Unfolding Pictures: The Anglesey Abbey Fan, 1900

Fan
1900
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This gorgeous fan is most likely the work of the renowned Parisian firm of Duvelleroy and dates to 1900. Jean-Pierre Duvelleroy established the firm in 1827, and, by 1887, operated two shops in Paris and one in London.


The decoration on the fan leaf married two distinct styles—the Rococo style of the Nineteenth Century and the Romantic style of the Eighteenth Century.

What makes this fan particularly notable is that the image on the front is seen from behind on the reverse. We see a young woman chatting with her lover over a fence while her father looks on. Meanwhile, on the reverse, the lover reaches up to talk to his sweetheart. The mother-of-pearl sticks and guards have been tinted green to match the scene.

This fan was owned by Cara Broughton, née Cara Leland Huttleston Rogers (1867-1939), who married Urban Hanlon Broughton (1857-1929) in 1895. The Victoria & Albert Museum tells their story better than I could, so let’s refer to them. “As Urban H. Broughton died before he could be elevated to a peerage, their eldest son Urban H.R. Broughton (1896-1966) became 1st Baron Fairhaven of Lode on 20 March 1929, while Cara became 1st Lady Fairhaven. This barony became extinct on Urban H.R.Broughton's death, but a later barony, Baron Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey, co. Cambridge, was granted to him in 1961, with a remainder to his brother, Henry (1900-1973), to enable this title to continue after his death without male heirs.”

This fan was part of a collection of historical clothing and accessories which was donated to the V&A in 1972 by Cara's grandson and Henry's son, Major Ailwyn Broughton.