Description
This beautiful silk Jean Patou scarf depicts an artist’s painting of a bird, surrounded by a range of abstract flowers, and framed in a golden saffron colour. The entire image appears to have been painted on a backdrop of a rustic wooden plank wall. It measures 29.5″ square.
It could be mounted, and framed as wall art, for its intensely beautiful and vibrant artistic value. The copyright symbol on the bottom left side is “Model Depose Copyright Tous Pays” indicating it is a French design, registered and copyrighted in every country. It does not identify the specific artist who did the painting. On the lower left side, Jean Patou Paris is printed in black. It has a tag to indicate it is silk, and Made in France. The edges are hand rolled and hemmed. It still has the original folds, so the condition is as new.
The Jean Patou couture fashion house was established around 1910, and went through upheavals during the war, and again when the stock market crashed in 1929. After the stock market crash, the business stayed afloat by developing a line of perfume, and for a period of time, developed and sold the most expensive perfume in the world called JOY, which was a blend of rose, jasmine and other scents like sandalwood, civet, and subtle musk. Civet was originally taken from the anal glands of civet cats, but apparently it is now produced synthetically.
In the year 2000 Joy perfume won the “Scent of the Century” award, voted by the public at the Fragrance Foundation Awards. On that upbeat note – they beat their rival Chanel.
Patou died in 1936 from a stroke at the age of 48. The haute couture fashion house was continued by his sister and her husband. They followed up with a most impressive series of famous designers: Marc Bohan in the 1950’s, Karl Lagerfeld in the 1960’s, Jean Paul Gaultier in the 1970’s, and finally Christian Lacroix in 1981. In 1987 the Jean Patou fashion house closed, after Christian Lacroix left his role there to form his own independent line.
Therefore this scarf was likely designed when Christian Lacroix was head designer. It is possible for it to be dated in the 1970’s because it could have been left folded in a drawer for decades. Either way, it is a gorgeous and rare example of artistry from the Jean Patou haute couture era.
