Fans E-Book

Mary Cooper

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 282

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

For centuries, fans have been used to keep cool, hide behind and even communicate. Made from a variety of different materials in innumerable styles, from simple utilitarian fan to the beautifully ornate, they have long fascinated fashionistas the world over. Now they are often collectors' items, with many commanding high prices at auction. Starting with a brief history of the fan, Fans then moves on to look at the many fan styles and fashion trends. It explains the terminology used for shapes and materials, illustrating how new inventions led to more versatility for fan makers. It them finishes with a look at more practical matters, such as how to clean and store your fan collection and where to research the origins of your fans. Including over 250 stunning photographs, most of which have never before been published, this book gives a helping hand to both the fan novice and the experienced collector alike, making this beautiful and informative volume essential reading for all fan lovers.

Leseprobe

Britannia. A rare eighteenth-century vellum fan, painted with the national personification of the island of the United Kingdom. In the second century, Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, armed with a trident and shield and wearing a Corinthian helmet. In this depiction, Britannia has her lion at her feet and a decorative shield, atop which is a crown.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Fans in Their Historical Context

2 A Practical Approach

3 Anatomy of a Fan

4 Fan Style and Substance

5 Buying Fans

6 Storage, Cleaning, Restoring and Framing

7 Record Keeping and Research

Appendix: Names to Note

Resources

Recommended Reading

Glossary of Terms

Index

Photographic credits

INTRODUCTION

Fans arrived in my life in the 1980s. Initially, I collected antique lace, and frequented the London auction rooms to view and to try to buy. In those days, lace was available in abundance. Handling, reading the valuer’s descriptions and monitoring the resulting prices proved the best way to learn. One day at an antiques fair I spotted a lace fan. It really was the ‘lightbulb’ moment. My collection evolved around lace fans, and also Art-Deco-period fans, quite a contrast, but I adore both the workmanship of lace and the life and vibrancy of the ‘roaring 20s’, and collect the beaded dresses and accessories from that period.

Most people view the fan as a simple utilitarian object designed to be agitated on hot days to cool the air. Indeed, it started life in this way, in hot climes, but then metamorphosised into a fashionable item that remains fit for purpose, with the addition of so many more features. This book aims to work through the centuries to show how much there is to learn about the fan, and to illustrate the development of style, form and subject. Looking at a simple tourist fan from twentieth-century Spain, we could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that this mass- produced object had no soul. At the other end of the spectrum, a glimpse of a unique fan from the Fabergé workshops, the leaf possibly painted by a famous artist of the period, sent to Russia to be fitted with an exquisite monture, is bound to arouse much more curiosity and admiration.

Generally, Fabergé augmented an imported fan by applying jewelling and enamel plaques to the upper guard stick, or encasing much of the upper guard stick in a gold frame containing a panel of his famous coloured enamel, additionally set with gemstones. Some of the leaves on these fans are surprisingly commonplace, but the ornamentation is often very beautiful and has the cachet of being from this most celebrated of jewellers.

Both had their function. Both were usually carried by a lady who was happy to show off her fashion accessory. Both are cherished by their owners today, the former most likely due to a memory of the event attended, the latter as the precious object presented on a special occasion. Is there anything in between these examples? Throughout the centuries fans have been specially commissioned, or created, to commemorate events in history, to educate, to complement costumes, to serve as weapons or signals in battle. Travel and discoveries feature in many different ways.

Some fans were used as advertising tools; some to spread propaganda and support a cause. Some were developed with novelty attachments for the owner to impress those in her social circle. Of course, love features in every century, and is represented in many ways. From simple hearts and flowers, with Cupid often spotted, to accurate representations of important marriages. Death is also respected, with mourning fans, usually all black and moving to partly black with some embellishment as the mourning period progressed.

A stylised Orientalist-period advertising fan for Rosine perfume. Paper leaf mounted on simple wood sticks, ballon form, a scarce example named after the couturier Paul Poiret’s daughter.

A nineteenth-century mother-of-pearl fan, the cream bobbin lace leaf worked with winged cherubs under exotic trees, reaching for a bow and arrow – an accepted indication of Cupid.

An eighteenth-century bone fan, initially gilded, the upper guard decoratively carved and pierced, sold at auction accompanied by a handwritten letter on notepaper from Hatfield House. The letter is probably twentieth century – not definitive provenance but a start for research

The subject matter is endless! As so many relate to contemporary events, discoveries and inventions, they relate to the history of the time in their own special way.

Several chapters will consider materials used, and techniques, aimed at helping an inexperienced collector decide from where the fan might have originated. Quirky details will be shown, as some fans are not the simple object they might at first appear. Some have registered patents, illustrating how competitive the market was for the custom of a wealthy lady, even all those years ago. Most early fans have little documentation to help dating or provenance, so we invariably have to turn detective. Once in a while we are helped along the way.

As is appropriate to a work that introduces a specialist subject, this book will include a glossary of terms, a diagram showing fan parts, a bibliography of suggested reading and a non- exhaustive list of museums where fans can be viewed. Specific points referred to briefly in the historical chapter will be developed later on. I do not aim to produce an academic work; there are plenty of excellent books and articles already in circulation which do that. Presenting my own practical approach to collecting fans, including references that I personally find invaluable and sharing my experience, is designed to help a collector with less miles on the clock to define what is important to them. I was helped in this way many years ago, and it gave me more and more confidence in relation to items I love and respect.

In addition, I have included a list of known fan makers, painters, printers and other details that might more regularly be spotted on a fan or fan box. Little things like this can complete a picture and undoubtably reflect the social history of the time in which a particular fan was produced. Illustrations come mainly from fans in my own collection, from others seen in auction in recent years and from very generous friends who have allowed me to delve into their collections to find a rare example to illustrate a particular detail. From my own experience, membership of associations connected to fans can provide endless pleasure, from both the treasure trove of research articles available and the friendship found all over the world, stemming from the mutual interest shared.

CHAPTER 1

FANS IN THEIR HISTORICAL CONTEXT

FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: EAST MEETS WEST

The simple question of when the fan first actually appeared in our lives is one that has occupied the thoughts of scholars through the centuries, with no definitive answer emerging. It can be imagined that this object was first used where people living in the soaring temperatures cried out for relief from the heat. This leads us to the Far East. Perhaps an island culture, as so many simple fans are made from basic materials such as woven grasses and fibres – or, in India, palm leaves. The small 1957 publication Eventails anciens by Carlos M. Baró and Juan Escoda refers to India, stating that fans are mentioned in poems written in Sanskrit. The same work mentions China and Japan. Other respected books suggest that the fan in brisé form, and thus folding, as opposed to a flat fixed object on a handle, entered China from Japan. For the purpose of this book, I have settled upon ‘The East’. This also leads me to pick up the subject no earlier than the sixteenth century. Although it is useful to have a basic knowledge of very early fans, they are so rarely offered for sale that the pages available here are best utilised to cover fans that we can hope to find and add to our collections.

A leaf section from an eighteenth-century folding fan depicting a scene incorporating Chinese figures, focusing on a robed figure of import holding a fixed fan, seated under a canopy, his attendants playing music; entertainers dance in the reserves.

Seventeenth-century brisé fan of mica, divided and framed with painted paper or fabric borders. It would originally have had a monture of ivory or bone, the upper parts of which are still attached to the back of the mica. A handful of seventeenth-century folding fans with mica-inset leaves are known, but brisé fans of this type were hitherto not, so this example may be unique. The mica panels are painted front and back with figures in the top panels and beautifully painted flowers below. Possibly French circa 1670–90.

Taking trade from East to West as the overriding factor, it is then appropriate to determine the geographical points of entry. Italy, certainly. Spain and definitely Portugal – countries where the user would appreciate the fan to cool the air. One good method of seeking out images of fans in the sixteenth century is to look at portraits of members of the royal courts and society families, particularly those portraits housed in Italian and French museums. In Italy, Catherine de Medici was betrothed at the tender age of 14 to Henry, son of King Francis II of France. Moving to France to take her place in the royal court, she took with her a love of fashion, an important consideration in Renaissance Italy. Thus, she is credited with introducing perfumed gloves (for masking unpleasant odours), handkerchiefs, ruffs, make-up and the folding fan, a development from the fixed fans already in use. Note a painting by François Clouet in 1555, easily found online, showing the then queen holding a fixed feather fan; later portraits show her holding folding fans in a part-open position.

Queen Elizabeth I of England is also shown holding a fan in many well-known portraits. Sometimes easier to see in ‘the Darnley portrait’, her fixed feather fan is exceptionally colourful, the feathers mounted on a gold handle inset with precious stones. This portrait, in the National Gallery, London, is dated to around 1575. Another example of a fixed feather fan is held by the queen for her ‘Peace Portrait’, so called as she carries an olive branch. A good computer image, enlarged, can show this fan in superb detail.

Slightly later, folding fans are noted with a leaf of painted mica panels, sadly often quite difficult to see clearly, as frequently the artist has painted the sitter wearing their most elaborate costume, embellished with embroidery and precious stones. More often than not, these fans are shown closed, so only the guards can be seen. Online museum collections can be searched for such images. Suggestions are found at the end of this book.

At this point it is useful to consider the words ‘folding’ and ‘brisé’, fundamental terms but very important to understand. By the eighteenth century, fan makers had expanded their repertoire, and offered a choice of construction with which a collector must be conversant, as too often auctioneers or general sellers do not describe a fan correctly.

A fan in brisé form does not have a separate leaf. Every stick might be made from one material, be it ivory or horn, metal, wood, aluminium, mother of pearl, leather and so on. On rare occasions, the fan might be constructed with each stick of a different material, for decorative purposes. This fan will fold, but the crucial thing to understand is that a brisé does not have a leaf.

The sticks will be fastened at the head with a rivet, just as one finds on a folding fan with a leaf, but at the tips or near the tips, the sticks will be ribboned or strung together. In French, the word ‘brisé’ loosely means ‘broken’, but perhaps more accurately is used to describe something made in sections, which fold to make the object smaller. If the ribbon has rotted, then the fan sticks will separate, which on first sight might make the buyer think it is broken or badly damaged. It is an accepted technical term that was also used by artisans other than fan makers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

An interesting point on good brisé fans is that, if taken apart, a number may be seen marked on each stick down at the head. If the sticks follow a sequence, such as a design from left to right, the assembler of the fan uses the numbers to ensure the sticks are connected in the right order. Another way to tell if the fan is correctly assembled is to look at the very bottom of the fan when closed. The sticks should form a gentle curve. If this curve looks disjointed, then either the fan has been put together incorrectly, or this is a clue that a stick might be missing and the fan was disassembled to remove the damaged stick and put back together again, concealing the lack of one, or more, sticks. This applies to other fans where several sticks are lined up together so, when checking condition, take a look at the head.

An ivory brisé fan with wedge-shaped sticks, circa 1880s, possibly Austrian. The sticks are painted in delicate colours with a maiden and butterflies, embellished with gold and silver. Unsigned.

A rare survivor, a small and delicate ivory fan, in cockade form, early 1900s. The upper section is unusual with delicate painting of Aphrodite in her chariot drawn by doves, accompanied by cherubs; the lower section carved and pierced, the head containing a spyglass, the guards serving as handles.

An eighteenth-century mother-of-pearl fan, slender sticks, gilded and silvered. The gorge is carved with figures, the leaf painted with the mythological scene of Flora, the goddess of Spring, flowers and new growth, and a winged Zephyr.

Brisé fans can also be found in cockade form, opening to a full circle with the guards forming the handle. Examples can be found in materials such as ivory, wood, lacquer, celluloid, in Chinese or European style.

A fan with a leaf attached to the monture is generally just termed a ‘folding fan’, assuming of course that it does fold. Over the centuries, several words have been used for a ‘fan’. Most relate in some way to movement of air, or wind. Fans were also used to fan the flames of a fire into life. The earliest is a ‘flabellum’, which had ceremonial use. Next, the ‘fly whisk’ moves the air to bat away flies, this action clearly seen if watching a horse move his tail in annoyance when pestered by flies in the summer. One of the most interesting names comes from mythology, a subject very popular on fan leaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The god Zephyr is shown with wings, as he personifies the wind. Zephyr in literature is often seen coupled with Flora, and his name was used when referring to a fan.

With optimism, a collector might aim to buy a pre-eighteenth-century example. Opportunity is slim in this category. Two examples seen in exhibition in the UK are reproduced overleaf:

An early version of a folding fan showing the mythological subject of Hades, arriving in his horse-drawn chariot, and Persephone, amidst her handmaidens, last quarter of the seventeenth century. Monture of tortoiseshell with tortoiseshell ribs, the painted vellum leaf mounted à l’anglaise. Notably the fan is particularly large, with gorge sticks slightly serpentine, colour retained despite the advanced age.

Musical interlude: a large late-seventeenth-century painted fan, the vellum leaf mounted à l’anglaise on tortoiseshell sticks, the gorge sticks shaped, hollow rivet. Two of the characters are playing instruments. Cupid features in the middle of the group. Perhaps the male on the left is conducting; his stance certainly gives the suggestion of his importance. Strong colour retained.

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

As we move into the eighteenth century, mythological and religious subjects on fan leaves abound. The lack of freedoms and adventure in the lives of wealthy ladies, restricted as they were by the demands and limitations of their husbands who believed the wife belonged in the home, is reflected in the taste for some subjects. Some form of escapism was sought. Often beautifully painted, and mounted on expensive materials such as ivory and tortoiseshell, mythological scenes of love and romance could whisk the imagination away, as Mills & Boon much later succeeded in doing when romantic novels appeared on the market.

In contrast, the more staid religious stories, presented on less extravagant montures, reminded these ladies and girls of duty and servitude and were more suited to being carried when attending church services. As they featured biblical stories, they also served as aides-memoires for bible-reading sessions.

If we examine the subject matter on fans of this period, it immediately becomes apparent that many more mythological leaves have survived than those showing religious subjects, perhaps as more were made, perhaps because the mythological fans were valued more and thus conserved. Interesting to note here is that New Testament subjects are harder to find than Old Testament ones.

A third notable subject for early fans relates to leisure pursuits – often music and dancing – or pastoral scenes (to be considered in Chapter 4), and these continue right through to the twentieth century. Dancing was a popular activity, a way of meeting people. Formal dancing scenes appear in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the use of different musical instruments for different periods may be important detail for a fan collector. A fondness for English country dancing gave way to classical dances imported from France, such as the cotillon. The pressure on the participants to master these very technical dances must have been great, and fan makers who developed fans bearing instructions, serving as aides-memoires for the steps involved, must have been visited with relief and gratitude.

A typical courtship scene painted on the leaf of a folding eighteenth-century fan, mounted on ivory, the guards inlaid with mother of pearl, the gorge painted with chinoiserie figures, a common feature of fans of the period when chinoiserie was all the rage in interior decoration. The extravagant costume reflects a couple with no need to refrain from flaunting their wealth and social status. The French Revolution was to change all that. The lady is holding a folding fan.

A very simple fan with a slender monture, fitting for a religious story. The leaf is painted in pastels with the story from Genesis 19:1–38, when Lot, his wife and two daughters were visited by two angels, urging them to leave the city of Sodom before its destruction by God. As they fled, Lot’s wife looked behind her, and was turned into a pillar of salt. As Sodom had been a city of sin, the story is fitting for a very religious era, and the fan would serve as a reminder to young ladies attending church.

Circa 1720–40, an ivory fan, the upper guards carved with figures, the gorge carved and pierced; mother-of-pearl thumb guard, and pearl tips to the guards. The double leaf features a couple wearing exquisitely detailed costume, performing a formal dance, accompanied by a flautist.

Mythological leaves presented a wide range of subjects and attracted famous painters or their followers to reproduce them, or a version with a little licence, onto fan leaves. One well-known painter, Angelica Kauffman, is known to have exhibited fan designs in the 1780s and a leaf attributed to her was sold in London in 1971. It may well be the leaf now at the Yale Centre for British Art, part of the Paul Mellon Collection Ref: B1975.3.1237. Angelica Kauffman’s art influenced many painted and printed fans in the late eighteenth century, but as very few artists signed their works at this time, unlike the artists of the nineteenth century, catalogues generally refer to the items as being ‘in the style of’ or ‘after’.

The mid-eighteenth century produced a large quantity of romantic scenes on fans, with many features common to most: a large country house in the background, with either formal gardens or a river in the foreground; a young lady receiving a suitor, with a chaperone at a discreet distance; young ladies seated outdoors, one perhaps reading a letter from an admirer; flowers; a small dog; a birdcage; even couples paying homage at Cupid’s altar. Words like ‘bucolic’ and ‘pastoral’ (often where sheep and a shepherdess appear) are frequently used to describe them. Unrealistically, most suitors are depicted as young and handsome, where in reality a young lady’s father usually chose a future husband on the basis of his fortune, and perhaps this gentleman proved old and rather past his prime.

French fans of the period were often painted on silk, with cartouches and vignettes bordered in gold sequins, and spangles. Leaves were sometimes embroidered in coloured silks and narrow ribbons, or occasionally applied with dyed straw, cut in delicate shapes. Feathers too could be glued to the leaf in intricate patterns or perhaps to form the body of a small bird within the overall design.

A fine eighteenth-century ivory fan, the monture both painted and plain, the leaf based on works by Angelica Kauffman. It shows a combination of scenes that she is known to have painted, and such was the popularity of her artworks that many scenes appeared as engravings during her lifetime. From left to right, the scenes portray ‘The Triumph of Love’, elements taken from Flora, and Diana Preparing for Hunting. Note the monture of this fan, in ‘pagoda’ form, the complex construction resembling a barrel when closed.

Working with thin strands of straw or narrow ribbon was a gentle pastime for young ladies from wealthy families who could afford such materials, passing the hours making exquisite silk panels for boudoir cushions, letter cases and delicate purses.

All of this extravagance reinforced the gap between rich and poor, something that later in the century caused great social change, especially in France. Unrest grew, particularly in villages where harvests failed and basic food was in short supply. The contrast between the royal family and their subjects was marked. In France in the 1780s, leading up to the French Revolution, fans changed radically in appearance. From ostentatious wealth, and some wonderfully inventive forms conceived by fan makers (discussed in Chapter 4 under the heading of ‘Articulated Fans’), we now see very basic materials, in the main using wood montures and paper leaves, printed not painted (albeit hand-coloured), carrying anti-royalist, anti-clergy images and wording, or scenes of daily life. These fans will be discussed in Chapter 4, and for some they are one of the most interesting sources of reflections on the social events at the time.

Such fans are highly collectable and thus their prices can be quite high, especially when the paucity of the materials used is considered. Prices have held steady, for one straightforward reason. Something inexpensive at the time was often discarded when its relevance declined, leading to less availability for those hoping to buy one today. A more expensive fan did not usually meet this fate, even if broken.

A fine eighteenth-century mother-of-pearl fan, with a slender monture, the leaf painted with a romantic depiction of a courting scene: the shepherd with his sheep, the maiden fetching water, the convenient rendezvous in idyllic surroundings, the reserves quite formal and stylised (typical of those to be found on Grand Tour fan leaves), the large birds being repeated on the carved, and silvered and gilded gorge sticks.

Viewed closely, this silk French fan leaf is finely painted, the animal being an unusual subject, embroidered with a variety of sequins, extensively applied with panels of straw, creating petals for the painted flowers and the interior of the arrow. Borders of chain stitch in silver thread add to the sumptuous nature of this very rare fan.

This is a good point at which to discuss the scarcity of some types of fans. If a fan was expensive at the time of purchase, it usually passed down through the family, or was traded in, for a newer, more fashionable fan. Sometimes the leaf was changed, the event or subject in question out of favour, but the monture too valuable to discard. This can lead to what is sometimes known as ‘a marriage’, a joining of two separate parts. This term should not be mistaken for a fan connected to an actual marriage, perhaps a gift to the bride from her fiancé, intended to be carried at the wedding ceremony.

Two early twentieth-century fans, the first in fontange form, the silk leaf cut away from a central gold lamé panel, applied with a figure of an elegant lady in her ballgown, holding a folding fan. Her gown is applied with garlands of flowers formed with silk ribbon. The second fan uses the same technique of silk, cut away to reveal a cream gauze panel, applied with garlands of ribbon-work roses, with the addition of sequins and gold paillettes. Both montures are of horn, slightly different shades and decorated to complement the floral designs on the leaf.

A French-Revolution-period paper fan, the leaf mounted on wood sticks, showing a printed and hand-coloured depiction of a street trader, Gros Jean, supplying a new invention, the chauferette, to well-dressed ladies. They are clamouring for the chance to obtain the new invention, a plate warmer, equally useful for warming cold knees in a carriage. The reserves of such fans were often printed with popular songs or poems.

Men were known to carry fans in the eighteenth century. Periodically a simple fan, perhaps ivory or wood with a plain green leaf, appears on the market. It is thought that these fans were used by men. In the Far East, fans were carried by both men and women, as a status symbol as well as functional objects, seen on many fan leaves or in portraits.

Another type of fan discarded without a second thought was the face screen, used in grand houses in the eighteenth century to protect tender skin from the heat of a raging fire, or to prevent white face paint or powder from running. Again, they were usually made from inexpensive materials and replaced when soiled, or if the subject in fashion changed. These screens did however serve as more than just a heat shield.

They are not to be confused with the nineteenth-century papier-mâché screens, which survive in good number. The great majority of these feature flowers and perhaps inlay of mother of pearl.

Most of interest, to be discussed with more examples in Chapter 4, are folding fans whose use in parlour games, or genteel conversation or even education, was invaluable in times when books were rare and the television or radio had not yet been invented.

As the eighteenth century ends, a radical change in the style and form of fashionable clothing worn by the wealthy takes place. The unease felt in France, where the guillotine presented a real threat to the lives of the wealthy, moved across to be felt in Britain, not least as many grand houses became places of refuge for exiled French family and friends or political associates, even royalty, who managed to flee across the channel. It was no longer wise to flaunt wealth. Families who had been used to sending their sons to Europe to visit the Roman ruins and landmarks of other European cities, in the aptly named ‘Grand Tour’, stayed at home, enjoying their souvenirs.

A nineteenth-century Chinese Mandarin fan, a scarce example with the monture lacquered in red and gold as opposed to the more common black and gold. The double paper leaf, of quite conventional design, is painted with figures – their faces fashioned from applied slivers of ivory, their robes of applied silk – attending a gathering, many carrying folding fans, the figure most central on this leaf holding aloft his open fan.

An eighteenth-century face screen, or fixed fan, for fireside use as protection against extreme heat, which would melt face paint. Examples are often informative, in this case printed with a map of France, travel being at this time new and exciting, the recto most likely to have a panel of chinoiserie or a depiction of figures in costume. The materials used are basic and a screen would often be discarded when a new version was published.

A pair of papier-mâché face screens, nineteenth century, well painted with attractive scenes, probably the Italian lakes, brought back as souvenirs. The handle is of turned wood, part gilded, the screen having decorative shaping, the verso being plain. Screens may on occasion be marked with their location – here, the vast cathedral in Milan, Italy. These fans may reflect humour, the final fan shown being a group of monkeys and other strange animals in human clothing, gathered together to share a pipe, possibly of opium.

RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS

Within the Old Testament themes, the following are fairly common, albeit with varying presentations which on occasion make them difficult to identify.

• The Finding of Moses

• Moses Strikes the Rock

• Rebecca at the Well (not to be confused with Rachel at the Well)

• Esther with King Ahasuerus

• Joseph Sold into Slavery

• Paul Speaking at the Temple

• The Judgement of Solomon

Not so common:

• Judith

An eighteenth-century ivory fan, taken from the Book of Judith in the Old Testament, later cited as an example of victory of virtue over vice. A rich and beautiful Jewish widow named Judith left the besieged city in pretended flight and foretold to Holofernes that he would be victorious. Invited into his tent, she cut off his head as he lay in drunken sleep and brought it in a bag to Bethulia. A Jewish victory over the leaderless Assyrian forces followed.

MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS

•Venus, the goddess of Love, is seen in various forms

•Telemachus and Mentor on the island of Calypso

• Diana, the huntress

• Flora

• Daphne

• Bacchus

•‘The Judgement of Paris’

• The abduction of Helen of Troy

• King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

• Perseus and Andromeda

• Venus at Vulcan’s forge

A very rare eighteenth-century ivory fan, the monture applied with straw, the gorge finely carved. The leaf is painted with a depiction of Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, being abducted by the Trojan prince, Paris, sparking a ten-year-long war between the countries to win her back.

An early eighteenth-century ivory fan with a fairly bulbous head, the painting relating to the story of Andromeda, said to be more beautiful than the mermaids. Sparking fury amongst the mermaids, Poseidon, god of the sea, sent a sea monster to destroy Jaffa, the land of Andromeda’s father, King Cepheus. The king tied his daughter to a rock to appease Poseidon, only for her to be rescued by Perseus, son of Zeus, chief of all the gods. All the elements of the story appear on the leaf, including Pegasus, the winged horse.

A fine eighteenth-century brisé fan, the depiction of the Queen of Sheba being received at the court of King Solomon being an example of Vernis Martin varnish, originally invented by the Martin brothers in the early eighteenth century. No evidence is available that the brothers ever produced a fan; rather they used the varnish on furniture. Any link to that family is therefore not substantiated.

Venus at Vulcan’s forge: a very late-seventeenth-century or early-eighteenth-century fan leaf, the ivory monture carved, pierced and shaped. The skin leaf, mounted à l’anglaise, is painted with a scene at dusk, cherubs hard at work in Vulcan’s forge to the right, Diana and attendant watching from a cloud. Venus reclines on a sumptuous bed, discussing an object with a cherub, possibly part of the armour commissioned for her mortal son, Aeneas, champion of the Trojans against the Greeks. Vulcan, semi-naked but for a red robe, is reclining on the ground to her side.

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Fashion underwent a seismic change. The heavy woven silks from Lyon and Spitalfields that were so prized by the wealthy were replaced by wisps of fine white cotton embroidered in India and imported into Europe. This caused many European silk fabric manufacturers and merchants to fall into straitened circumstances in a very short time. Gone, too, were the layers of undergarments, boned corsets and elaborate wigs, and the female silhouette shrunk drastically, as did the orders for such items. Look to the Jane Austen period, with Empire-line dresses and narrow, woven, imported, Indian shawls. Expensive needle lace fell from grace, to be replaced by light and airy bobbin-lace trimmings, such as that made in Caen, Northern France, known as ‘blonde’. The new silhouette gave the outward impression of restraint and simplicity. The appearance of parsimony apart, these new fashionable items were not inexpensive; the exquisite embroidery and costly fabrics imported from afar were still luxury items.

To complement the narrow form, the size of the fan had to change. No longer needed to balance out excessive skirts with side paniers, a large fan looked completely incongruous. Small fans, tiny enough to slip into silk sheaths, became the rage. Size did not however mean less expensive. The desire for materials such as ivory, tortoiseshell, horn and mother of pearl generally required the purchase of imported items, often from France or the orient.

From now on, it can be seen that as fashion trends changed, so too did the size of the fans, giving fan makers and retailers more and more custom, as the fickleness of the fashionable lady grew. Once the fear of the dreaded guillotine receded, silks and fine wool fabrics crept back into the fashionable wardrobe. First, with gigot sleeves and gathered skirts, then with crinolines underneath. The female silhouette expanded, and by the 1850s fans were again quite large. Innovations in inventions, due to the progress seen during the Industrial Revolution, not only extended the product range but provided better incomes for the middle classes who desired them, and the market demand for fans boomed. Perhaps the materials used were slightly cheaper, thus within reach not quite of the masses, but of a larger public, and more fans were made and sold. Techniques in printing produced lithographed leaves. Bone was used for montures, as well as wood, both materials carved and pierced for extra design features. Paper leaves, double, provided for two different scenes, front and back. Machines aided the quicker production of montures, which could now feature the wider, shaped sticks, particularly favoured by Spanish ladies. Gorges could be deeper, leaves narrower. Additions such as mirrors mounted on the upper guard were very popular.