Unworn, Utterly Gorgeous, Shimmering, Baby Blue, Very Rare and Very Sought after ‘Splendeur des Maharajas’

We absolutely love this Hermes scarf! Photos so don’t do it justice! It’s really vibrant, with the most incredible colours; and features the extraordinary opulence of a maharaja’s palace, complete with dancing girls, sitars, and absolutely stunning outfits. Condition 10/10.

Originally designed by Cathy Baschet in 1996, the first version of this scarf was titled simply “Maharajas”, with “Hermes Maharajas Paris” written across the ceiling of the main pavilion, the design including the faces of four men, one in each corner.

The scarf was re-issued in 2001/2 with the men’s faces replaced by elephants, as we have here, and re-titled “Splendeur des Maharajas”, with a separate and very small -Hermès Paris- in the bottom right border.

A third re-issue the following year closed in on the detail, with a close-up of the dancing women. And lastly, more recently, the scarf came out in a ‘finesse’ version, reminiscent of an engraving on a mono-coloured carre.

Baschet created a variety of scarves for Hermes, including Azulejos, Les Beaux Jours de Bonsai, Le Fleuve Sacre, Histoire des Cartes a Jouer XVe au XXe 1949, Oiseaux de l’Inde et d’Himalaya, Parures des Maharajas, Les Petits Princes, Qalamdam, the classic Qu’Import le Flacon, and Trois Feuilles. Subject matter and styles are incredibly varied, demonstrating the amazing versatility of this artist, and her wide-ranging interests and geographical and historical awareness.