My time is a bit limited, as I’m currently very busy. However, there are some clues to go on based just by looking at the design. It has a curiously design motif based on Mayan sculpture. In fact, the first clue I noticed was the human face. It is a profile view. The figure has large ears, and a sort breathing mask attached to his nose.
There is a famous sculpture in the Mayan town known as Palenque. Palenque flourishe during the Seventh Century, and has some of the finest architecture, sculpture, and art that the Mayans produced. Pacal the Great was one of the most famous rulers of this town. In his tomb, there is a sculpture that looks very much like the design on this scarf.
There are other design elements that look like Mayan sculpture. Here are a few details:
Dots within circles appear in lots of Mayan tablets People and faces are exaggerated and stylized, composed of simple geometric shapes.
It will be fun to do a bit more research on this when I have the time. I’m curious to see if there was an exhibition on Mayan art in New York sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have an answer. If have any clues about this design, please leave it in a comment!
How completely super! I’d say that it is the find of the week. And I think you are on the right track concerning the Mayan influence. I don’t know of any major exhibition in the late 40s, but there was a big push by American Fabrics magazine to get designers to use art as their inspiration, as you know. And pre-Columbian art was big in the mid 20th century.
I couldn’t believe I found this scarf! I have a few more Wesley Simpson scarves I haven’t yet posted. It’s become a major part of my collection obsession. :)