The leading French luxury house of Hermès is world-famous for accessories and clothing made from fine leathers and luxurious silks. The subject matter of their silk scarves often reference the lifestyle of the typical Hermès customer with motifs based on horse-riding, hunting, shooting and fishing and other country sports. The scarves are designed by a range of highly talented artists, and are marketed as 'carrés' by the house (carré is the French word for square). This carré is shown with the original light folds and creases from having been folded in its presentation box. This is part of the Hermès signature. The superb quality and smoothness of the silk used means that these folds typically disappear within a hour or so of wearing, and visible light creases from correct storage are seen as highlighting the quality of the Hermès product rather than detracting.

The artist, Jean-Louis Clerc (1908-1961), was one of the most prolific designers for Hermès, producing designs in a loosely drawn painterly style showing subjects such as ballet dancers, orchestras, or horse-racing scenes. 'Paddock,' first produced in 1956, is one of the artist's most popular designs that continues to be produced by Hermès. With its subject matter of fashionably dressed men and women mingling with jockeys and horses in the paddock before or after a horse-race, the scarf both exemplifies Clerc's work and shows the type of event to which a Hermès customer might wear one of their carrés.