Fan
Date1760-1780
OriginEurope, Netherlands
MediumIvory (Sticks); Silk (Mount); Wood (Ribs); Paint; Gold Gilt Paint; Round Metal Sequins (Various Colors); Boat-Shapes Metal Sequins (Various Colors); Metallic Silver Leaf (Embellishment on Sticks); Pink and Silver Metallic Foil (Backing on Fan Guards); Gold Gilt Foil (Edging); Paste Stone (Rivet and Fan Hinge; Yellow Silk Thread (Applying Sequins); White Silk Thread (Later Repairs to Fan)
DimensionsLength: 10 3/4"; Width (when Open): 19 3/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1953-224
DescriptionFan with white silk-gauze mount and ivory sticks with a paste rivet at the fan hinge. Sticks are inlaid in alternating straight and undulating lines. Guards are pierced in a simple geometric pattern with a foil backing of pink in the top half of the guard and silver foil in the bottom portion. The pierced pattern is bordered on either side with lines of silver inlay with a swag of silver inlaid dots at the top and a vertical row of three inlaid silver dots below. The leaf depicts a painted scene of man and woman in eighteenth century clothing and hair beside a stream in a wooded area. The man sits on one side of the river with a basket at his side extending a stick into the river. He is possibly meant to be fishing. The woman sits on the opposite bank watching him. They are surrounded by floral sprigs and sprays in pinks, purples, and reds with green foliage and bordered by scrollwork in red and metallic gold paint. On either side of the large vertical sprays of flowers are vertical zig-zagged rows of sequins, red sequins on the outside of the spray and green on the interior. Extending from each top of the green sequins are swags of boat-shaped sequins, two of red and the center of green. The top border of the fan is edged in gold gilt foil. The reverse of the leaf is covered in white silk but undecorated.
Construction History:
1. 1760-1780: The fan was initially constructed
2. Unknown Date: White thread was used to stitch areas of the fan folds together, likely to keep the fan in one piece
3. January 19, 1954: Cleaning, repairing, restoring by Ernest LoNano (possibly did the repairs noted above?)
