Etienne Delessert for Fête des Vignerons 1999 "Le Jardin de Orphee" a Non Hernes Scarf

As I have said earlier I see scarves as wearable works of art. For the most part my preferences lend themselves to pieces which were created by artist particularly for the purpose of the design of the scarf. As opposed to scarves which are copies of the works of artists.

This is the one thing that truly stands behind my attraction to the scarves of Hermes. Each piece is designed by the artist for the purpose of print as a scarf, and the designs of Hermes are endless. But I will leave the discussion of Hermes history of scarves for another day.

Today I want to discuss a newly acquired piece. The above scarf is the work of Etienne Delessert an artist who now lives in Connecticut, having been born in Switzerland. Mr. Delessert has won numerous awards for his artwork and illustrations. He is probably best known for his work as the illustrator of over 80 books, most of which are children's books.

I first came in contact with his work, while reading books to my own children. His pieces are over the top fantastic, and imaginations young and old can easily get carried away visualizing the story contents.

Mr. Delessert has also illustrated for many well known magazines and newspapers such as The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and Le Monde.

The scarf above is a piece that was designed for The Fete des Vignerons of 1999. The title of the scarf is "Le Jardin de Orphee".

The Fete des Vignerons is a festival of the Winemakers which happens about every 20 years in the village of Vevey Switzerland. The festival last 18 days, during which a half million visitors is not unusual for the small village of 16,000.

All of the people who work to host the festival are festooned and costumed extravagantly. Christian Lacroix created the gowns worn by the goddess of spring and her attendants in 1999. Other costumes for people of the event were created by Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber.

The events of the festival include special vintage wined sold and featured, parades, concerts, and festive dance. The highlight of the festival is an outdoor amphitheater event which runs three hours at each showing and depicts fanciful and factual historic accounts of Swiss viticulture through music, staging and costume. A cast of up to 5900 depict characters such as Bacchus, St. Martin of Tours, Ceres, and Orpheus to name a few.

Thus the title "Le Jardin de Orphee" depicts Mr. Delessert's idea of the minstrel Orpheus; whose music is said to have charmed all wild beasts and even to have coaxed rocks and trees to movement.

A beautiful scarf with a delightful story behind it.