Drawing Room · Armando Caruso 1970s Illustrated Cotton Scarf
Cotton · illustrated deco-revival print · hand-rolled hem · Armando Caruso · 1970s · 44cm x 42cm · dye bleed present, best as a wall piece
Only the birds got color. Everything else on this square holds still in charcoal and cream, fine pen lines describing curled hair and lace collars, while a whole flock of small birds in blue and crimson move through the print, each one carrying a flower between its beak like a piece of gossip too good to put down.
Whoever set the screens for this print was working in at least four passes: the fine grey line work first, then the deep charcoal ground, then the small bursts of blue, crimson and orange laid in afterward with enough precision that from a distance the birds read as embroidery rather than ink. Armando Caruso signed the corner of the design itself rather than a woven label, the kind of accessory house that made handkerchiefs and pocket squares as often as scarves, working in cotton rather than the silk twill more expensive names reached for, sometime in the 1970s, when illustrated novelty scarves like this one were having a real moment.
The hem is rolled narrow and machine finished all the way around, tight enough that the square holds its shape without curling. A couple of sections carry a small run of black dye that has bled slightly into the white ground, visible across a few of the photographs and not fully water fast, which is the one thing standing between this piece and the wash. Framed or pinned flat, as she is shown here, the bleed reads as part of the drawing rather than a flaw.
Material
Cotton
Care
Do not wash with water; the black dye is not water fast and will bleed further. Spot clean only if strictly necessary, or better, keep her as a wall piece and skip washing altogether. Store flat or loosely folded, away from direct sun.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, she comes in at 44cm by 42cm, close enough to a true square to read as one. A generous handkerchief scale rather than a long scarf, sized for the neck, the wrist, a bag handle, or a small frame.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Very good. The black dye has bled slightly in a couple of sections and is not water fast, visible across a few of the photographs; beyond that, the print is bright and complete with no fading, no holes and no pulled threads. Best kept as a collector's piece rather than worn or laundered.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
The women in this print have been mid-conversation since the 1970s and show no sign of finishing; the birds keep interrupting them with flowers, which is considered good manners in whatever room this is. Somewhere along the way a little black dye let go of its post and wandered into the white, and none of the women seem to mind, they have simply folded it into the story like a rumour nobody bothered to correct. She was born to be worn loosely round a throat and photographed, but lately she has decided a frame suits her better, something about being looked at rather than touched. Hang her where the afternoon light lands and let the birds do the talking.