---
title: "Jacquard loom"
description: "A Jacquard loom has a punched-card mechanism that controls individual warp threads, so complex patterns can be woven without a drawboy."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/jacquard-loom
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Jacquard loom

*A Jacquard loom has a punched-card mechanism that controls individual warp threads, so complex patterns can be woven without a drawboy.*

A Jacquard loom is a loom fitted with a mechanism that reads a pattern from punched cards. Wikidata describes it as a [device fitted to a power loom that simplifies the manufacture of patterned textiles](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2488528).

## What did it change for paisley shawls?

The Met's catalogue text says the loom was invented in 1801, and that when the punch-card system was perfected, [one of its main jobs was weaving paisley or cashmere shawls](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/157013). The same text says it was first used in Paisley in the 1820s. Heriot-Watt University dates Jacquard looms in Paisley to [1808](https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/professional-services/information-services/heritage/the-textile-collection/paisley-shawls), so the date is disputed.


## Sources

1. [Shawl (Costume Institute catalogue text)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/157013). The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2. [Paisley shawls (textile collection)](https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/professional-services/information-services/heritage/the-textile-collection/paisley-shawls). Heriot-Watt University
3. [Jacquard mechanism](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2488528). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/jacquard-loom