Hermès Giverny Scarf

Features

Why we love it

Description & history

A Hermès Giverny scarf · special edition paying tribute to Claude Monet, first edition 1989 · silk twill · water green, ecru, yellow and pink colourway · Japanese bridge, irises and flower beds · hand-rolled edges · original label present · 88 × 88 cm · grade B.

Claude Monet settled in Giverny, Normandy, in 1883. The garden he created there over the years was neither a simple setting nor even a model: it was a work in itself, conceived like a painting to be planted. Marcel Proust, who visited in 1907, wrote of those tender water lilies, for which the garden seemed like a first living sketch. It was there, before his pond and Japanese bridge, that the painter spent the final decades of his life pursuing the reflections of light on water.

This carré was born from a tribute. Issued by Hermès in 1989 at the wish of Gérard Van der Kemp — former chief curator of the Palace of Versailles, who devoted his retirement to raising the funds needed to restore Monet's house and gardens — it is a special edition, reissued in 1991 and 1999. It brings together all the vocabulary of the place: the curve of the Japanese bridge, the trellises of the Norman enclosed garden, the flower-lined paths, upright irises and cascading wisteria.

The palette follows that of the garden. A wide water-green border frames the whole and gives the carré its dominant colour; at the centre, an ecru and soft green ground allows yellow irises, pink flower beds and fuchsia clusters to bloom, all punctuated by a bright pink line that enlivens the composition. Soft, distinctly spring-like colours, easy to wear with white, beige, khaki or denim. The silk twill gives the carré its sheen and drape, while the edges are hand-rolled — this finish, rolled then sewn by hand, creates the small raised border characteristic of the house's carrés.

Good overall condition, grade B — rolled edges in good condition, slight signs of previous use. No holes, no odour and no major flaws to report; the overall condition is documented in the photos. The original label is present. Delivered in careful RARR Vintage packaging, with dustbag and certificate of authenticity.