GIULLARE A CORTE SCARF

CARTE SERIES

Swords, cups, coins and clubs - these are the traditional suits of Italian playing cards. They evoke the magic of long winter afternoons spent with grandparents. A deck of cards and endless challenges to another hand next to the cosy hearth. Playing cards, entertainment for the masses par excellence, are strongly linked to folklore and tradition in Italy. Bergamo, Bologna, Treviso and Naples, the list is long: each area of the country has its own version of the suits. Forty rectangles, each with its own image, that can mean defeat or victory. This is where we took inspiration for our "Carte" (cards) series of scarves.

GIULLARE A CORTE

"A florin!" was the offering that Massimo Troisi and Roberto Benigni are asked for repeatedly by a customs officer in a well-known comic scene in Italian cinema. One carlino coin was instead the tax required by the Spanish government for each deck of Neapolitan cards sold during their domination. By the end of the 16th century, the game of cards had become so widespread and popular under the slopes of Vesuvius, that the Bourbon rulers found it a great way to line the coffers. The designers of the cards had become almost a caste unto themselves, and the profession was handed down from father to son. Our silk Giullare (court jester) scarf draws inspiration from the ace of clubs in Neapolitan cards, a symbol of strength and action.

GIULLARE A CORTE is a product in 100% silk twill, made and packaged in Italy.