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- Herausgeber: Parkstone International
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Old-fashioned fans are today mostly appreciated for the craftsmanship and delicacy with which they were produced. But in former times they had their own special function in the hands of women in certain ranks of society. Not just useful articles, they were powerful transmitters of messages in their own unique code. With deft movements of their fans corresponding to this code, women were able to signal their thoughts and their intentions to their admirers without the necessity of a single word's being spoken.
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Seitenzahl: 58
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Philippe Mesmer
Publishing director: Jean-Paul Manzo
Text by: Philippe Mesmer
Designed by: Sébastien Ceste
Photographic credits
Unless otherwise specified, copyright on the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research it has not always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case we would appreciate notification.
© 2024, Confidential Concepts, Worldwide, USA
© 2024, Parkstone Press USA, New York
© Image-Barwww.image-bar.com
All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or adapted without the permission of the copyright holder, throughout the world.
Unless otherwise specified, copyright on the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research, it has not always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case, we would appreciate notification.
ISBN: 978-1-63919-894-8
Contents
An Ancient Marvel
The GoldenAge
Object of Fashion
The Language of the Fan
The Language of the Fan in the 18th Century
The Language of the Fan in the 19th Century
List of Illustrations
1.Fan in mica. End of the 17th century - beginning of the 18th century. chandelier and books, Holland, 17th century.
In the 19th century, fans were to women what the sword was to men: an ‘instrument of persuasion’. That at least is how the society of the day described an object that had become, in women’s hands, the ‘armed hand’ of seduction. However, there is a whole history to tell before we reach that point. In ancient times, the heavy, muggy heat of Egypt forced Pharaohs to take refuge in the gentle breeze created by a palm leaf that was held by a slave whose sole job was to take care of his divine master’s well-being.
For a long time the fan retained this role as a ‘wind-maker’. Even the great designer Karl Lagerfeld, in his writings about this beautiful object, dedicates his work to Aeolius, the Greek god of the winds. Although it long gave up its role as an item of any practical use, the image of the fan has always been associated with pleasant notions such as relaxation, rest, languor and even bodily or spiritual abandonment. So this elegant object became the reflection or expression of a certain kind of sensuality, a feeling of attraction for others, and a voluptuous way of life.
Painted fans originated in Japan and China. They arrived in Europe via Portugal and Spain in the 16th century. The fashion of the centuries, which followed very soon made it an indispensable element of feminine dress. In 1770 there were more than 150 craftsmen making fans in Paris. Painters painted innumerable portraits of women who were almost always depicted carrying this elegant accessory…
The ‘wind-maker’ had become an object of beauty, used in the service of flirtation, bringing great pleasure to male lovers, since women knew how to use the fan to convey far more than its original function as a creator of cool breezes could have suggested. In skilful hands, the fan became a messenger of love, to the great detriment of duennas, tutors, cuckolded husbands and other jilted lovers, whom a simple movement of this small object could plunge into despair…
2.Screen in mica representing figures of women. Holland (Colony of Indochina?).
End of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. Wood, mica, paper-maché, cardboard, leather, silk, painting, sculpture, gilding. 36.6 x 33 cm. Acquired in 1968 by M. I. Kalinina. 9456/Pz-254. On the sheet of transparent mica, surrounded by a fringe of multicolored silk, two figures of half-naked women and motifs of vegetation are drawn. The carved handle is covered with coloured leather, painted in places with gold. Documentation: Album “Ostankino.” Catalogue of the exhibition of 1985, #38.
3.Lady with a Fan, 1638-1639. Oil on canvas. 94.6 x 69.8 cm. Wallace Collection, London.
4.Two-sided fan with three painted cartels. Frame with 23 openwork bone blades.
Russia, around 1750. Paper, bone, taffeta, paint, sculpture, weaving, gilding, 38 x 65 cm. Gift of F. E. Vichnevski in 1958. 9207/Pz-180. The three cartels on one side of the paper sheet carry painted representations: the personification of the three elements: Air, Earth and Water. In the left cartel, an allegory of Air is found: the skies symbolize all that is heavenly, divine, which is confirmed in the allegorical figures of Minerva, Juno and Zephyrus, situated on clouds. In the central cartel, an allegory of Earth is represented, in its daily life as it were (a scene of daily life: some children collecting the fruit of an apple tree). In the right cartel, an allegory of Water is found. On an immense stretch of sea, symbolizing the infinity of thought, small figures of two dreamers on the shore are represented. On the other side of the sheet we see a pastoral scene near an obelisk. The blades carry a chiseled design in rocaille set on a background of blue taffeta. Documentation: Catalogue of the exhibition of 1956, #1. Album “Ostankino.” Catalogue of the Exhibition of 1985, #1.
5.Two-sided fan sheet: “Games in the Park.”
France, middle of the 18th century. Paper, painting, 15 x 56 cm. Gift of F. E. Vichnevski in 1958. 9255/Pz-228. In a park, in the greenery, a group composed of young girls is represented and two young boys playing, with a knight in the centre. To the left on a bench is written in difficult to decipher script: Crevoisy (?). On the back we see three Cupids on clouds. Documentation: Catalogue of the exhibition of 1956, #49. Catalogue of the exhibition of 1985, #8.
6.Fan: “Abigail Facing David.” Frame with 20 mother-of-pearl blades.
France, around 1759. Parchment, mother-of-pearl, gold and silver sheet, painting, sculpting, inlaying, 29 x 54.3 cm. Gift of F. E. Vichnevski in 1958. 9216/Pz-189. The parchment sheet reproduces a scene of biblical legends. Abigail is the wife of Nabal, the rich tribal chief. To avoid that her husband, who had refused his aid to David, sees all his goods pillaged, she comes on her knees to offer some bread, wine and other presents to the future king and his soldiers. On the other side, the stamp of the customs port of St. Petersburg is affixed with the date: 1759. The blades carry the indented figures of ladies and cherubs and the panaches of helmeted soldiers. Documentation: Catalogue of the exhibition of 1956, #10.
