So Pretty, Rare, ‘La Cle des Champs’ (The Key to the Countryside) in Jacquard Silk

Designed by Francoise Faconnet in 1965, this gorgeous scarf was reissued in 1990 in jacquard, as is this version, and 1995. The jacquard silk means that it is beautifully soft and drapey. The scarf has been used and loved, but beautifully looked after, but there is a tiny little hole and a small patch of very light staining, which won’t show when worn. Condition 8.5/10.

Hermes usually uses standard silk twill for their 90cm scarves. Occasionally they produced a batch of special designs using jacquard silk, but less frequently right up to the end of the 1990’s. The jacquard used in the design usually had some association with the design of the scarf. Possibly best known is the “Bee” jacquard used on the Napoleon scarf. Here, a scrolling jacquard “H” runs through the design.

Hermes jacquard silk scarves are much valued by collectors and will always fetch a higher price than the normal silk twill versions of the scarf. The jacquard is also a useful “watermark”, virtually guaranteeing authenticity.

Hermes describes this oh-so-sweet scarf thus:

“In the middle of winter, we should nurture all hope of renewal and celebrate its presence in the decoration of a Regency carpet. Tomorrow Nature will stir, feathering the skies with her shrill flocks; chirruping sparrows, goldcrests with their proud crowns, goldfinches gobbling thistle seed, even the fierce little titmouse, so pugnacious but so useful to farmers.

Their frolics reflect our own mood, fizzing up in a rejuvenated world.”

The detail of this design is incredible, and the jacquard feature of the silk makes the detail pop.