Timbalier (Le)

Hermes Historias De Carres > Autumn-Winter 2010

He guides his horse with gentleness and firmness, the light pressure on the stirrups transmitting to the animal those orders so often repeated. His hands must be free so the drums can resound. It’s a holiday, a procession. Squarely lined up besides his companion, the timpanist plays and his soul takes flight. Hasn’t his fiancée come to admire him, isn’t she somewhere in the crowd? This highly worked carre reproduces epaulettes, pompoms and brocade, using the loveliest colours of the range. All sorts of needlework, flecks, stocking stitches or knitting stitches delineate the horse, the rider and the ornamented tympanum.

Histoires De Carres > Spring - Summer 2021

Until the end of the Second Empire, the role of the timbalier was to provide the drum beat for the French cavalry regiments. The drummer in full dress featured in the centre of this scarf, designed in 1961 by Marie-Francoise Heron, plays his instrument with panache. The royal coat of arms with two interlaced L' seen on his drum evokes the 18th century. The horse, too, is exuberantly dressed. The ceremonial saddle and bridle, like the surround, are ornamented with sumptuous decorative passementerie: lanyards, braids, fringes and twisted cords, not forgetting cartisanes - wooden discs adorned with silver, gold or silk threads.