Les Amériques

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A framed Hermès silk scarf titled “Les Amériques” designed by Kermit Oliver and manufactured by Hermès Soie et Textiles. The scarf was commissioned by Hermès and first issued in 1992 to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage. The colorful and detailed scarf depicts the “Old World” and the “New World” with Columbus on the right and a stereotypical image of a Maya person on the left. Columbus is holding a staff, with a white scroll with a red cross behind his left shoulder, possibly referring to the Spanish Requirement. Underneath Columbus are the three ships from his first voyage, the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María. The Maya is wearing a Maya Quetzal feather headdress with a jadeite necklace (of Guatemalan origin) with the Tikal Temple I (Guatemala) behind them.

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