Hermes La Musique des Spheres Bright Ivory White Feels New!

For all music lovers and scientists, this gorgeous Hermes scarf feels as new, it’s unusually heavy, and comes complete with care label.  We’ve found some feint marks on it, but these aren’t immediately obvious, and won’t show when worn.  Condition 9.8/10.

This beautiful and sought after grail was designed by Zoe Pauwels in 1996, and reissued 2000/2006. This scarf probably dates from the second issue.

Central to the scarf is the ‘Viola Medici’, a tenor viola created by the renowned Italian instrument maker, Antonio Stradivari (Stradivirus in English). The instrument was made in Cremona in 1690, and so far as is known, it has remained in Tuscany since it was delivered to the Medici court.

It is in exceptional condition, which probably indicates that there has been relatively little demand to play an instrument of this type. In Stradivari’s time, violas came in two sizes, tenor and alto. Tenor violas have become obsolete, whereas alto has become the standard voicing for violas.

The instrument has a two-piece back made from maple and the belly is of spruce. It is decorated with the Medici crest in mother-of-pearl on the fingerboard and a cupid on the tailpiece, a rough illustration of which has been included by Pauwels in her intricate design.

‘Music of the Spheres’ is a concept introduced by the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who first theorised that the stars and planets moved according to mathematical equations which corresponded to musical notes and thus produced a symphony, the “music of the spheres.” The Spheres comprise nine planets, illustrated in the corners of the scarf and also incorporated into the design of the viola. Pythagoras is attributed with discovering that a string exactly half the length of another will play a pitch that is exactly an octave higher when struck or plucked.

Coldplay named their ninth album ‘Music of the Spheres’, but the notes depicted on this scarf are likely to come from s a composition by Dane, Rued Langgaard, written in 1916–18, which was scored for orchestra, choir, organ, a “distant” orchestra, and a soprano soloist.

Pauwels was a prolific designer for Hermes between 1991 and 2013. Her designs include Alfred DeDreux Peintre du Cheval, Animaux Solaires, Apres le Deluge, Au Coeur des Bois, Au Pays de Cocagne, Aube – Libre Comme l’Ange, Coiffes Normandes, Costumes des Departments de la Seine Inferieure du Calvados de la Manche et de l’Orne, La Danse du Cosmos, De Tout Coeur, Effluves, Festin des Abeilles, Fleurs des Pres, Hommage a l’Explorateur Sir Ernest Shackleton (grail), L’Ivresse de l’Infini, Legende Kuna Peuple de Panama, Monnaies et Symboles des Parisii, Ors Bleus d’Afrique, Pierres d’Orient et d’Occident, Premiers Mains, Pythagore, Quintessence, Reve d’Australie, Samourai, Sarasvati and Serenite.