SALE: PLANT HUNTER SCARF | No6 (FOREST FLOWERS)

Was £125 - Now £55

Material: Soft and lightweight, natural woven fibres with 10% cashmere.

Colours: Ice blue, charcoal black and pale pewter.

Size: 140 cm x 140 cm (Dry clean only)

Arrives in a box with 'Story Card'

The Shop Floor Project’s latest scarf collection takes inspiration from, and pays homage to, the extraordinary female ‘plant hunter’ Maria Sibylla Merian. The 17th century explorer and artist was a renowned naturalist, entomologist and botanical Illustrator.

Our beautiful, large wraps and fine silk squares feature cut-out silhouettes of tiny seed pods, giant leaves, vines, flowers and insects in a colour palette inspired by the dramatic watercolours of Merian.

Her story is a fascinating one, setting sail from Amsterdam with her daughter, across the Atlantic to Surinam in South America to study its native plant and insect life.

Merian grew up in large house, in a large artistic family in Frankfurt during the mid 1600’s. Her stepfather, the celebrated artist Jacob Merrill would teach his students the art of still life painting in Merian’s favourite room in the house - the painting studio. Here the young Maria would observe while she quietly cleaned brushes and prepared the paint. Seeing her potential, Jacob invited her to join the lessons, beginning with copying his own work of flowers and insects, flora and fauna.

A life of painting and studying the natural world led Merian and her daughter to venture thousands of miles from their home in the Netherlands to the rainforests of South America seeking new and amazing insects to observe and illustrate. Here they collected, studied, and composed illustrations of the jungle’s plants, insects, and other animals.