Musings On Hermes Scarf Artist Philippe Dauchez

On July 23, 1948, France named Philippe Dauchez their official Maritime painter. His father Andre Dauchez had himself served as the official painter of the Navy, and would have wanted to direct his son towards a career in science. But Philippe Dauchez had been surrounded by artistic medium since childhood, and his love of both art and the sea quickly took root.

During a time in history when the rest of the world is just discovering the world of pleasure boating, Philippe is quietly building hid own sailing vessel in order to devote time to his passion. This passion came to an abrupt halt with the onset the war. Having obtained the coveted title of official painter of the Navy, he will then cease to sail on the seas of the world for the pleasure of cruising and racing. Instead he will carrying out his duties to document the history through the painting of France’s National marine.

His painting is spontaneous and merry, it the precise rendering and character requested of the official painters of the Navy, but it also has the reflection of the artists feelings as we can see here in the Hermes scarf bearing his signature. Here we pause as if on the docks to notice the quiet resting place of the yachts of a yacht club. Perhaps on the morning, just prior to opening day.

So Many Scarves, So Little Time!

Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell the 5th Baronet once wrote "...a scarf is, admittedly, not a tapestry, not a dress; it is a mere square of silk or some other material intended to be worn around the head. But it can be treated as a work of art. It can be collected like a rare book or print..."


Ahhh! So many scarves and just not enough time!

More Musings on Jean-Louis Clerc

I had been watching this painting over on ebay it is very unusual in that the signature is in the style of Jean-Louis Clerc's. Even the date was in the right era. (1949) The subject matter and the style of the painting is also very similar to the way Clerc rendered his horses in many of the scarf pieces. The subject matter gets more intriguing as it depicts Circus horses of a famous "Swiss" circus. I did bid on the piece and was out bid. Which is Ok with me, after all I would have had to look for wall space. I felt through out the whole process that the discovery of what just might be a painting by him to be reward enough. I will never be able to confirm, so the mystery remains intact.

Musings on Hermes Scarf Artist Jean-Louis Clerc

Remember that I had mentioned that part of the joys of collecting scarves is that there is somewhat of a hint of mystery in the collecting. Here is a good example. All collectors know that Jean-Louis Clerc was a rather prolific artist for Hermes.

The mysterious part is that very little about the artist is actually known. I am still trying to research this artist, and have been for sometime now. What little I do know came from a friend in the scarf forums.

It seems that someone has control over the rights of Clerc's paintings either a descendant through his estate, or some other company that purchased the rights. My friend did not remember the details but thought that somehow a Swiss company might be involved.
Clerc designed at least two, possibly more), scarves that were not Hermes. One is called "Orchestra" by those who collect, I am not sure of the title of the second scarf.

Clerc was influenced by the work of french artist Raol Dufy. Details of this influence can be seen in Clerc's works of "Paddock", "Orchestra" and "Concerto, when compared to similar works of Dufy.

Clerc pieces especially the early ones are highly saught after by collectors. The scarves pictured above are all Clerc pieces. The top two are known to be Hermes scarves and bare the logo of the company. The bottom pieces are Clerc pieces, but do not bare Hermes logos. The top picture is one of the rarest of all Hermes Clerc designs it is titled "Joies De La Montagne" it was issued in 1946.

So you can see that collecting scarves for me is not just about the wearing, it is also about the amazing stories behind the artist. Or in this case, the mystery of lack of information (information is never lacking, it is only hidden) regarding the history behind the artists and the designs.

Musings On Scarf Collecting

The "En Soie" "Anna" by Ines Boesch, came today. It is even prettier than the pictures. It is a nice hand silk crepe, and it is GM size. So fun! I so wish Hermes made twills in this size.

There has only been one Hermes silk twill of GM size that I am aware of and it is "Naturalia" by Kermit Oliver, done in 1994. (Shown above)

Musings on My Hermes Scarves Part II for today

Today I noticed that ebay has a Fauna et Flora du Texas cashmere GM listed. This design is by one of my absolute favorite Hermes scarf artists, Kermit Oliver. I remember wanting a GM in this design so badly. I even posted "want ads" on "Craigs List" all over the state of Texas.

It was finally due to the efforts of some Hermes scarf collecting sisters from the forums that I was connected to mine (shown above). I will always be grateful to them! As it is truly one of my most prized possessions.

I even have some extremely fond memories attached to the wearing of this one, as I wore it to a Paul McCartney concert. The night was enchanting!

For me over the years this is what scarf collecting has all been about. The friendships, the wonderful memories, and the sharing of passions for all things "En Soie"

Sometimes the lazy days of summer allow us to renew old passions...

I have been noticing that the enjoyment of things these days just seams deeper, and richer for some strange reason these days. Take today for instance... I spent the morning washing some scarves. (I have not taken the time to do that in what feels like a very long time) The sweet smell of the Mrs. Meyers lavender soap, was soothing in the cool of the early morning air that drifted through the open window at the sink. The cool caress of the wet silk in the washing pan against my skin as the day began to warm up it's welcome. The birds calling back and forth to each other in the yard through the screen of the door in the serenity room as I pressed each scarf dry. The brightness of the twill in the light as I pressed. All of these feel like rich gifts of the day today, as I sit down to take account of all things I quite simply enjoyed about today.

You see I collect scarves; silk scarves to be exact. (although some are cashmere mix) Scarves are a passion for me. Each one is a work of art, wearable art! (art another passion of mine, just not enough wall space) There is always a place to wear a scarf.

Most of my collection are Hermes scarves, but truly artistic scarves can also be found made by other makers. Sometimes they hold a little mystery!

For instance a recent piece that I was able to add to my collection bares a label that says "En Soie" with two dancing rabbit silhouettes. There were words on the design of the scarf according to the seller of the piece that states "Fur Anna Von Innes".

I began trying to research the piece, one of the main problems was that many European scarves carry the words "En Soie" on their labels. So this was not really going to help me. The sellers description of the words on the front of the piece turned out to not be useful alone either. Now I consider myself to be pretty good at ferreting out information. So I dickered and played a bit with the words "En Soie" and came across the actual trademark registry for those words and the dancing rabbits.

Having found the trademark and actual address for "En Soie" I was able to find out that is is a lovely little specialty boutique in Zurich, which offers many textile items including silk scarves by a particular artist / designer Ines Boesch. one of the scarves they have sold in the past is named "Anna" which is in fact the design of the piece which had started this research. All of the designs by this artist are quite whimsical. Including several pieces which hang in the Museum of Design Zurich. (including my scarf "Anna", which is actually shawl size since it is 130cm x 130cm)

"Anna" was produced in 1990 by Ines Boesch. The one which I have added to my collection has a history in that it was owned by Durie Appleton, a longtime resident of Palm Beach. Florida. She lived to be 91 years old. There were rumors that she dated John F. Kennedy, and even that she was secretly married to him at one time. All of which she definitely denied. The only factual evidence regarding any relationship that can be substantiated is that she was friends with the Kennedy family.

It is funny how things come full circle. My love of scarves has a lot to do with the fact that I was a young girl during the Kennedy Era. Jackie Kennedy was not only famous for the pill box hats, but also for fashionably wearing the head scarf. My mother made many dresses for me as a young girl and always took some of the fabric and fashioned a matching headscarf.

Most recently I have discovered how enjoyable it is to travel and stay in a hostel. I am thinking of doing more of this type of traveling. I found a website for a hostel in Zurich that says that the curtains are of fabric designed by Ines Boesch.

Life has such interesting connections!