16th Century Red Flowers Silk Habotai Scarf

DESIGNER'S NOTES

A Fox & Chave silk habotai scarf with a red floral design after a still life painting from the 1500s.

In 16th century art, flowers carried symbolic weight, religious meaning, and emerging scientific curiosity. In Northern Europe, especially in the Netherlands and Germany, floral details appeared in devotional paintings, often coded with Christian symbolism, a lily for purity, a rose for the Virgin Mary, a carnation for love and sacrifice.

Botanical accuracy increased as artists worked in parallel with herbalists and early naturalists, reflecting a growing interest in observation and classification. In illuminated manuscripts and decorative arts, flowers remained stylised but richly detailed.

Italian Renaissance artists included floral elements in frescoes and portraits, using them to evoke nature, fertility, and classical themes. Flowers in this period were not only beautiful, they were deeply embedded in a system of allegory and knowledge.

COLOURS

STYLING

A Fox & Chave habotai silk scarf can be worn with the classic knot style or a pussycat bow. You can even create a shawl effect by knotting two scarves together behind your neck and allowing them to drape over your shoulders. More scarf styling ideas are available in this wonderful How to Tie a Scarf book.