Designer: Vladimir Rybaltchenko (Rybal) Design Name: Les Cavaliers d'Or Material: 100% Silk Dimensions: 90cm x 90cm (approx. 35" x 35") Colorway: Light Blue/Turquoise with Gold Year First Issued: 1975 Edge Finish: Hand-rolled Origin: Made in France A striking example of Hermès silk artistry, this carré presents Vladimir Rybaltchenko's celebrated Les Cavaliers d'Or design against a luminous sky-blue ground. First created in 1975 to accompany the Metropolitan Museum's Scythian Gold exhibition, the pattern draws from ancient equestrian treasures—ornate pectorals, horse combs, and ceremonial amulets—rendered in golden tones across the silk twill. The scarf measures the house's signature 90 centimeters square and bears the hand-rolled edges that mark fine French manufacture. Rybaltchenko's motifs weave ropes, classical hardware, and mythological horses into a composition that honors both ancient craft and twentieth-century design sophistication. Notes from the Curator Vladimir Rybaltchenko created this carré at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's express request, timed to accompany the April 1975 opening of "From the Lands of the Scythians," an exhibition that brought nearly two hundred ancient gold artifacts from Soviet museums to New York for the first time. The design draws directly from fourth-century BC Ukrainian tomb finds—a pectoral breastplate, combs, necklaces, and amulets—now housed at the Hermitage, objects that testify to the nomadic Scythians' tradition of wealth display in gold ornaments and the mingling of steppe craft with Greek and Persian influence by the fifth century BC. Rybaltchenko, nephew of the house's legendary Philippe Ledoux and father to present-day designer Dimitri, signs his work "Rybal," and the composition he delivered—symmetrical torsades, mythological horse reliefs, and ceremonial hardware against pale sky-blue silk—captures the objects' archaeological precision while remaining entirely legible as a scarf. The design proved popular enough to merit reissue in 1992, and colorways on this luminous ground remain among the most sought.