Musings on Jonques Et Sampans

One should never spend too much time with a scarf that one is thinking of culling from their collection and selling, it just might not end up where you had planned.

So the story went with my best laid plans of this morning. I have had Jonques et Sampans for sometime now and not worn it. I kept thinking that I would but then did not and it kind of sat there with the others never saying a word until today.

I would love to know what inspired famed french illustrator Françoise de la Perrière; when he mused upon the design "Jonques et Sampan". Had he actually taken his in his inspiration while viewing Junks in their original setting in some far off Asian setting, or had he been inspired by the artwork of another such as shown in the ancient Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock pictured above.

I actually spent quite a lot of time traveling in the Orient, while I lived in Japan. The massive floating hulls of the Junks are a sight to be seen. That was what had originally drawn me to this piece. Today I took a deeper closer look into its watery depths. I have always considered some of the other colorways of this design a bit garish, preferring the subtlety of this sea-glass colored version. I purchased it about the same time as I purchased a "Geisha" in a rather similar colorway. I realize now that I was reminiscing and missing my time spent in the orient and that is what probably prompted the purchase of both designs.

Musings On Hermes Scarves

Musing On A Mystery - Napoleon III

When I first started this blog, I spoke about how I found the mysteries regarding some of the scarves histories so intriguing. Hermes has been making scarves for so long that there are always scarves that come along that even long time collectors have not seen. It does not happen often but it does happen, and discussions around them in the past have always been lively and fun for me.

I recently acquired a scarf, that many of us thought was only printed for one special event, that being the 150 year anniversary of Credit Lyonnais Bank in London. Which celebrated its anniversary in 1970. Now while it is true that Hermes did in fact print special pieces in limited quantities for this event, they also printed a Napoleon III / Empire C'est La Paix which was not distributed for this event alone, as it was not printed with the imprint of the anniversary dates.

I love the consistency that in keeping with the historical significance Hermes printed the Napoleon III in a jacquard of "Bees".

Historically speaking there is much reverence and attention given to anything which has to do with the reign of the first Napoleon. No major anniversary of births, battles, or buildings goes uncelebrated.

The legacy of Napoleon III includes some of the most progressive social reforms of the period, along with much of the modern infrastructure of France as we know it today, including railroads and major ports. The second empire also saw the building of major avenues, and a sewer system that still functions today. Napoleon III also organized innovative financial and credit organizations.

Historians have always treated France's "Second Empire" somewhat dismissively. However, Hermes honors the Emperor here with Ledoux's beautiful design, which also commemorates the special relationship held between England's Queen Victoria, and Napoleon III. It is fitting that above Napoleon III the words Empire C'est La Paix . Perhaps Queen Victoria said it best when after visiting the tomb of Napoleon I escorted by Napoleon III, in her journal she wrote:

"The coffin is in a small side chapel, de St. Jerome....Into this the Emperor led me, and there I stood, at the arm of Napoleon III, his nephew, before the coffin of our bitterest foe, I, the granddaughter of that King who hated him most and who most vigorously opposed him, and this very nephew who bears his name, being my nearest and dearest ally!"

Napoleon the III's grave site has no place of honor in France, for he died in exile on the not too distant shores of England following complications with gallstone surgery. His wife had a church built in Farnborough this was to be his final resting place.

Musings On Citrouilles et Coloquintes Oh So Very Fall

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The leaves are turning and there is a chill in the air, that whispers the onset of fall. A time for hot cider, and pumkin pies. We turn the soil over saying goodbye to the fare of summer, in preparation for the winter frost and rain. The season changes, and things around us get just a little more still as winter approaches.

Those are the feelings that Valerie Dawlat-Dumoulin's design Citrouilles et Coloquintes stirs within my soul. I want to get my cup of tea and snuggle up with a good read. Fall is here.

Musings On Paradis du Roy

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"Paradis du Roy" was released in 1989, and was designed by Annie Faivre. It is a wonderful piece full of imagery that causes the eyes to wander. The design also contains Annie Faivre's famous monkey.

Here is the feature story taken from the Autum/Winter 1989/1990 booklet which featured this design:

"The monarch whom all the world called simply "The KIng" commanded an appropriately majestic dwelling- Versailles.
Here Louis XIV and his progeny ruled resplendently for a hundred years, from the glittering 1680s to the dawn of the
French Revolution. Kings enthroned in a gilded palace, parks peopled with statues of gods. The royal vegetable
garden, designed by Jean de la Quintine, is tended today by the National Horticulture School."



The design takes its inspiration from the Gardens at Versailles, quite possibly the most famous gardens in the world. Just as in the real garden the Bassin d’Apollon – the Apollo Fountain is the central focal point so it is within the design by Ms. Faivre.

Musings On Madison Ave.

No this post is not what you think it is about...

It is another photo exploration this time of Kermit Oliver's design Madison Ave. released in limited release in 2000 to celebrate the opening of the Madison Ave. Hermes. There were much whispersings and groans throughout the world of people who know what an Hermes scarf is this past week due to the unforeseen coincidence that Hermes held their New York Sample Sale and it opened the very day that Washington began serious discussions on the "economic crisis". Collectors flock in droves to this sale, and nothing save an atomic bomb could probably stop them. But there are those who scrutinized, shook their heads and wagged their fingers in disbelief. A great quote from one collector is that they "...just don't get it..."

What's not to get is that it is about art and artistry. Stop for a moment and try to figure out a time or place where mankind stopped it's appreciation for art, or the use of art to explain his view of his world to another. I can't think of of one I have tried. There is much that has taken place in history itself that the only account we have of the event is due to the art of another.

Hermes is art.

One wonderful example is the Madison Ave. scarf. Kermit Oliver takes us on a journey that includes the fact that our existence here and now even on Madison Ave. is indelibly linked to those who were here before, be it the flora and fauna or our indigenous peoples. The native maiden sleeps and as she sleeps she dreams...

Madison Ave. Dreams