HERMES 45cm SILK SCARF and 140cm CASHMERE SHAWL - LA CHARMANTE AUX ANIMAUX by ANNIE FAIVRE
This is perhaps one of the best birthday presents I've gotten! Back in the day (2010) when Neiman Marcus sold Hermes beyond fragrances, my mother secretly contacted my favorite sales associate and asked her to find something she thought I'd like. Not only was this a delightful birthday surprise, but the SA found an amazing colorway in a design that speaks to my heart. "The Animal Charmer" hits me in the animal loving feelz.
However, the inspiration for this design is less about a generic affinity for animals and more about Scheherzade and the 1001 Arabian Knights. (For those unfamiliar, Scheherazade was betrothed to a king who was famous for beheading his brides after the wedding night. To prolong her life, she spun tales over 1,000 nights, always ending on a cliffhanger so the kind would have to keep her alive to hear the end of the stories. After 1,000 nights he'd fallen in love with Scheherazade and kindly left her head attached to her body.)
From the Hermes Story Behind:
Nightly Scheherezade led King Shahryar into the windings of her tales. Her 146th story conjures up a marvellous island stocked with free and happy animals and inhabited by only one hunter armed with his bow... If many storytellers hide behind the One Thousand and One Nights, where India, Persia, the Arabian empire, the Baghdad of Caliph Harun al-Rushid all mingle, it's largely Joseph-Charles Mardrus and his translation we should thank for this story. Two carved doors of the Fatimid Period of Egypt (Cairo Museum and the Met) inspire the interlacing adorning this carre, while the door knockers, marking the angles, symbolise those gates to the Orient: Persia, Syria, Egypt and the Maghreb.
Immense thanks to the citizens of The Purse Forum for finding the story for me! I had vague memories this was based on story #146 and am happy to know my memory is not as bad as it feels at times. Anyhow, this story tells the tale of a duck, peahen and gazelle who were tricked by a traveling carpenter into allowing him refuge on their island of animals: after charming the animals into allowing him refuge on their island, the carpenter slays a lion cub and brings other men to the island to enslave all the animals. Super depressing but the scarf is a CDH.
At any rate, in the center of the design we have what appears to be Scheherazade spinning her tales to an enraptured Shahryar (all the better to stave off her death sentence!). They are surrounded by pairs of birds and a couple of big cats, which in turn appear to be surrounded by what I think are dragons/serpents, deer, llamas and Annie Faivre's hallmark monkey. At the top we see the evil archer on horseback.
Anyhow, I knew it was issued in a 90cm in addition to the cashmere 140, but fast forward 14 years and I discovered that this design was also made into a gav! Took me awhile to find one in a color I liked at a price I liked. And, hey, wouldn't mind adding another colorway. Just sayin'.
However, the inspiration for this design is less about a generic affinity for animals and more about Scheherzade and the 1001 Arabian Knights. (For those unfamiliar, Scheherazade was betrothed to a king who was famous for beheading his brides after the wedding night. To prolong her life, she spun tales over 1,000 nights, always ending on a cliffhanger so the kind would have to keep her alive to hear the end of the stories. After 1,000 nights he'd fallen in love with Scheherazade and kindly left her head attached to her body.)
From the Hermes Story Behind:
Nightly Scheherezade led King Shahryar into the windings of her tales. Her 146th story conjures up a marvellous island stocked with free and happy animals and inhabited by only one hunter armed with his bow... If many storytellers hide behind the One Thousand and One Nights, where India, Persia, the Arabian empire, the Baghdad of Caliph Harun al-Rushid all mingle, it's largely Joseph-Charles Mardrus and his translation we should thank for this story. Two carved doors of the Fatimid Period of Egypt (Cairo Museum and the Met) inspire the interlacing adorning this carre, while the door knockers, marking the angles, symbolise those gates to the Orient: Persia, Syria, Egypt and the Maghreb.
Immense thanks to the citizens of The Purse Forum for finding the story for me! I had vague memories this was based on story #146 and am happy to know my memory is not as bad as it feels at times. Anyhow, this story tells the tale of a duck, peahen and gazelle who were tricked by a traveling carpenter into allowing him refuge on their island of animals: after charming the animals into allowing him refuge on their island, the carpenter slays a lion cub and brings other men to the island to enslave all the animals. Super depressing but the scarf is a CDH.
At any rate, in the center of the design we have what appears to be Scheherazade spinning her tales to an enraptured Shahryar (all the better to stave off her death sentence!). They are surrounded by pairs of birds and a couple of big cats, which in turn appear to be surrounded by what I think are dragons/serpents, deer, llamas and Annie Faivre's hallmark monkey. At the top we see the evil archer on horseback.
Anyhow, I knew it was issued in a 90cm in addition to the cashmere 140, but fast forward 14 years and I discovered that this design was also made into a gav! Took me awhile to find one in a color I liked at a price I liked. And, hey, wouldn't mind adding another colorway. Just sayin'.
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