Antique Image of the Day: Girl with a Fan, 1864

Girl with a Fan, 1864
William Dobson
Watercolor and gouache.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Influenced by the tastes and styles of their Queen, the Victorian public preferred idealized portraits of young girls.  Such depictions arose beginning with Queen Victoria's reign as the fresh-faced young woman took the throne.  Since the queen was an attractive young lady, similarly innocent faces became the subject of oil paintings, watercolors and prints of all kinds.

This painting by William Charles Thomas Dobson (RA, RWS, 1817-1898) is rendered in watercolor and gouache.  It  was described in the words of a contemporary as having “a roundness and sweetness which is never sensual.”

William Dobson began his career as a prolific painter of religious themes.  His greatest hope was to revive popular interest religious art.  Nevertheless, the audience was limited and Dobson went on to paint less ponderous subjects like this attractive picture.  Dobson often peppered his works with a stylized orientalism which successfully increased their public appeal.  From 1842 until 1894 he exhibited many paintings in this style at the Royal Academy.

Here, we see Dobson’s rather inaccurate depiction of an Asian girl in a turban and a striped silk brocade robe.  It was painted in 1864, not from life, but in his studio, using props which Dobson thought would seem authentically Asian.

Unfolding Pictures: The Emily Beauclerk Fan, 18th C.

Click image to enlarge.
Hand Fan
French or British, Eighteenth Century
Watercolor on paper leaf with ivory sticks and guards.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, a variety of hand fans were imported from the East into Europe. China exported a vast array of fans into England and Europe and, soon, the Chiense style became quite fashionable for hand fans. European artists strove to emulate these Chinese fans in order to keep local business going. This fan, made in the Eighteenth Century, probably comes from either Britain or France and is a clever take on the Chinese style which was growing in popularity at the time.

With expertly carved and pierced ivory sticks, the fan sports a paper leaf which has been hand-painted with a watercolor Chinoiserie landscape. However, instead of depicting the usual Chinese figures in Eastern dress, the men and women in the scene are show in fashionable European dress. Their faces, nevertheless, are meant to look Asian. One of the figures, a woman, is shown holding a paper fan with a floral pattern in pink which nearly replicates the flowers which have been painted on the reverse of the leaf. 

The fan was donated to the V&A by one Emily Beauclerk, its last owner.

Unfolding Pictures: Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence, 1740

Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click Image to Enlarge

Fan Depicting "Claudia Proving Her Innocence"
Italian, 1740
Kid Leather, Pierced Ivory, Mother-of-Pearl
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Claudia Quinta was a Vestal Virgin. Her job was to tend the fire at the Forum which had been brought by Aeneas from Troy to Rome—as one does with fire. As was often the case with those wacky Vestal Virgins, there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding her virtue and she ended up being accused of adultery. One would think that with all the fire-tending, she wouldn’t have had the time for other pursuits, but there you have it. Claudia was forced to prove her innocence. And, she managed to do it with the help of the Goddess Cybele. Fair enough. You see, she proved her chastity by pulling a ship with the strings of her girdle. Now, how that shows her to be chaste, I’m not sure. If anything, it proves she had a strong midsection and nothing more, but nevertheless, the elders saw this miraculous bit of naval and navel fortitude to be evidence enough that she wasn’t an adulterous, but rather a freakishly strong, happy little Vestal Virgin. Imagine what she could have done if she had Spanx.

This fan with pierced ivory sticks and mother-of-pearl guards sports a kid leather leaf painting with a scene of Claudia as she moves the ship, aided by Cybele. Created in 1740 by an unknown Italian fan-maker, the fan was a favorite of Princess Charlotte, the daughter of King George IV. When Princess Charlotte died in childbirth, many of her belongings were bequeathed to her dresser/friend, Mrs. Louis. Upon Mrs. Louis’ death on Easter Sunday of 1838, this fan and a number of other personal mementos which had belonged to the Princess were given to Queen Victoria. Victoria put this fan on display because she believed it to be quite fine and attractive. And, it truly is.

Finely painted with beautiful workmanship in the sticks and guards, the beauty of this fan has not faded in over two centuries.

Unfolding Pictures: The Reading Fan, 1870

The Reading Fan
Front
England, 1870
Presented to Queen Alexandra when Princess of Wales
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection 
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Made in England in 1870, this attractive fan features a paper leaf with mother-of-pearl sticks and guards and a chased gold loop. This fan, from the Royal Collection, was once owned by Queen Alexandra (“Bertie, I can’t hear you”), Consort of fuzzy man-about-town King Edward VII.

The fan was presented to Alexandra (1844-1925) while she was still the Princess of Wales. She was, in fact, the Princess of Wales for a really long time since her mother-in-law, Queen Victoria, lived almost forever and Edward didn’t ascend the throne until 1901. The Mayor and Corporation of Reading presented the fan to the Princess of Wales one hundred forty-two years and one day ago on July 1, 1870, on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of Reading School by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). The date is inscribed on the verso.

The new school at Reading was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905). The structure replaced one that had been founded by Henry VII. Along with the presentation of the fan to the Princess to commemorate the occasion was to be an address by the Reading Mayor. However, much to the Princess’ relief—since she probably couldn’t have heard a word of it anyway—the address was not read aloud, but rather presented in a novel way.

The speech had been reduced by photography (a technology which very much fascinated Alexandra, a known shutterbug), and was mounted in a delicately carved mother-of-pearl and gold frame. This was tied by a ribbon terminating in a gold and blue enamel “A,” to the gold fan loop along with a solid gold vinaigrette adorned on one side with the coronet and monogram of the Princess, and, on the other an inscription commemorating the date.

The fan leaf, inscribed MARCUS WARD DELT. and HOWELL JAMES & CO. is painted, in the center with two intertwined letters—“A”—surmounted by the Prince of Wales’s coronet. Flanking this are views of Reading School and Reading Abbey, with the arms of Reading and of the Princess of Wales. All of this, as well as a miniature version of the fan—was presented in a fitted box. Sadly, only the large fan remains—the vinaigrette, frame, ribbon and miniature fan having since been divorced from the original set and, consequently, lost. I would guess they’re somewhere in Sandringham in a drawer along with a bunch of other things which Alexandra—when Queen—squirreled away. 

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Unfolding Pictures: The Jacobite Fan, c. 1715

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Click image to enlarge.

Folding fans with paper or fabric leaves originated in Japan and weren’t introduced to Europe until the second half of the Sixteenth Century as European makers adopted the technique of the Japanese while introducing their own style of adornment.

This simple folding fan dates beween 1715 and 17230 and was made in England with plain, un-carved ivory sticks, and a paper leaf painted with gouache (opaque watercolor), with accents of gold paint.

The painted leaf symbolizes Jacobite support for the Stuart Royal Family after George I, Elector of Hanover, succeeded to the British throne in 1714. Depicted on the left is Charles II who is shown hiding in a tree after his defeat by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

He is joined by Queen Anne who is depicted as ascending to heaven after her death in 1714, while beside her a lady mourns the loss of the crown. On the right of the leaf, we see the Stuart arms, with a white rose and two rosebuds below. The rose, a symbol of the House of Stuart, is notable in that it represents the son of James II, James Francis Edward ('James III' or the 'Old Pretender'). The two buds are his sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict.

The leaf, overall, is painted in a dark-toned gouache, with a brown and green ground, and is edged with a formal, gilt, scalloped border filled with floral decoration. The reverse of the fan is adorned with a stiffly naturalistic floral spray on a silver ground. The initials “L” and “I” are written in ink on the top left border.

Unfolding Pictures: The Toilette Fan, 1670-80

Fan
French, 1670-80
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“The toilette,” the process of getting dressed, was a fashionable subject for a fan leaf in the late Seventeenth Century. Such scenes were often depicted on elegant fans. Here’s an example of such a fan showing an attractive, elegant room which opens on one side with a view of a distant landscape behind. Therein, putti are preparing Cupid’s bath and making his bed. The vellum leaf, painted in watercolors, is based on paintings by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The reverse is painted with three bunches of roses within a broad border which repeats the shape of the fan leaf. The border is punctuated with a design of flowers and formal leaf patterns.

The sticks and guards are of pierced and carved tortoiseshell and have been decorated with hand-painted squiggles. The fan was made between 1670 and 1680 in France. Some feel that it was meant to celebrate the “Appartement des Bains” at Versailles—the sumptuous bathroom of Louis XIV's mother, Anne of Austria. 

 

Unfolding Pictures: The Houghton Boating Fan, 1890-1900

Click image to enlarge.
Fan
Mother-of-Pearl Guards and Sticks
Francis Houghton
1890-1900
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Francis Houghton was known throughout late Nineteenth Century Britain as a prolific and highly-talented fan painter, yet know very little about the details of his life except that a number of his fans survive.

The dramatic scene the leaf of this handsome fan is typical of his work. Depicted is a man leaning over the side of the boat. He is presumably saving a girl, who is stranded out at sea in a rowing boat.

The fan is unusually large compared to others by Houghton and, oddly, he has painted the sea over the mother-of-pearl sticks to give the impression of the water stretching out to infinity. He made the fan between 1890 and 1900.  The mother-of-pearl guard is in excellent condition.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Mary’s Fabergé Fan

Fabergé Hand Fan
by Henrik Wigström
1912
Owned by Mary of Teck
by whom given Queen Alexandra
Silk, Mother-of-Pearl, Enamel, Gold, Rubies
The Royal Collection

Sometimes, Queen Mary (of Teck, wife of George V) was actually given an object as opposed to her usual methods of acquiring things. This remarkable fan was a gift from her mother-in-law, Queen Alexandra.


Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII were loyal patrons of Fabergé, so much so, in fact, that a branch of Fabergé was opened in London and remained on New Bond Street until 1915 largely because of the frequent commissions of the Royal Family. Mary of Teck shared Queen Alexandra’s passion for the works of Fabergé and especially the designs of Henrik Wigström. The sticks and guards of this fan are Wigström’s design—stamped with his name. The front guard is a masterful creation of mother-of-pearl, two-tone gold, white and blue enamel and Burmese rubies. The back guard and sticks feature the same mother-of-pearl and gold in a simpler pattern. The artist of the watercolor scene on the crème silk leaf is unknown and is not recorded in the catalog of Wigström’s work. 

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
All Images Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Unfolding Pictures: An Italian Piqué Fan, 18th C.

Italian Hand Fan
Naples, 18th C.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Folding fans, like the one pictured above, were highly costly luxury items which became popular throughout Europe in the mid-18th-century. In Paris at the time, there were almost two hundred master fan makers working at any given moment. However, equally impressive examples were created in Italy and Britain during the Eighteenth Century. Let’s take a look at this one which heralds from Naples, Italy.


The leaf of this example is supported by tortoiseshell sticks which are inlaid with tiny gold pins and strips (an artistic technique which is called piqué). Piqué was originally a specialty of Italian workshops who produced such stunning examples for export throughout Europe.One side of this fan’s lead is painted with a fishing woman adorned in elaborate Rococo dress. The reverse depicts the goddess Diana who is accompanied by three maidens.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Victoria's Pastoral Fan, c. 1850

Hand Fan
Presented to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert, circa 1850

Queen Victoria once favored this painted paper fan with carved and gilded mother-of-pearl sticks and guards.

The fan was a gift to the Queen from Prince Albert circa 1850. The obverse boasts a central cartouche which has been hand-painted with a lush scene of a lady with a sewing box. Flanking this are two pastoral scenes and symmetrical ovoid-roundels painted with floral scenes.

The verso is painted with an elegant and delicate depiction of flowers and a butterfly with Rococo tendencies.

The guards terminate in a metal pin set with a diamond paste.

Unfolding Pictures: A Stuart Dynasty Fan, c. 1600

Fan from the Stuart Collection
Circa 1600
Leather, Bone
Purchased by George V, 1910
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Images Courtesy of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In 1910, as instructed by Queen Mary (of Teck), King George V purchased a set of twenty-four relics reputedly belonging to the Royal Stuart Family of the late Sixteenth and early Seventeenth Centuries. Among these items is this leather-leaf fan with bone sticks and guards which is said to have belonged to King Charles I.


The leather leaf of this fan shows an open-work pattern which was typical of the era, most likely copied from a book. The pattern was transferred to the leather by pricking the leaf with pin holes which traced the design’s outline. The area within the pinholes was then meticulously cut with a knife.

Traces of red and green pigment are still visible on the bone sticks and guards which also show signs of having been adorned with some kind of metal sheeting—copper or possibly tin—which was affixed with copper wire via small holes in the bone.

In 1916, Queen Mary proudly displayed this fan and the other twenty-three items in the newly arranged, “Stuart Room” in Windsor Castle. 

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Unfolding Pictures: The Georges Barbier Fan, 1912

Hand Fan
Georges Barbier and Madame Paquin
French, 1911
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Georges Barbier (1882-1932), a celebrated Parisian fashion illustrator of the early Twentieth Century, collaborated with the most avant-garde fashion designers in France at the time. Barbier worked with such famous names as Paul Poiret and Madame Paquin (1869-1936) whose elaborate oriental costumes for the Ballets Russes tremendously influenced fashion in the 1910s.

Madame Paquin and Barbier worked together to design a series of fans on that Eastern theme. This decorated fan of printed and hand-colored paper and hand-painted silk is an example of the collaboration. Looking ahead to the designs which would dominate the Art Deco ideals of the 1920s, the fan features sticks and guards of bone which have been adorned with painted grapes and butterflies. Tassels of mulit-colored silks hanf from the gold rivet. A woman is also depicted. She wears a headdress which is identical to one which was designed by Madame Paquin. When folded, this fan, made in 1911, displays a zig-zag pattern between the guards.  

Unfolding Pictures: The Emily Beauclerk Fan, 18th C.

Click image to enlarge.
Hand Fan
French or British, Eighteenth Century
Watercolor on paper leaf with ivory sticks and guards.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, a variety of hand fans were imported from the East into Europe. China exported a vast array of fans into England and Europe and, soon, the Chiense style became quite fashionable for hand fans. European artists strove to emulate these Chinese fans in order to keep local business going. This fan, made in the Eighteenth Century, probably comes from either Britain or France and is a clever take on the Chinese style which was growing in popularity at the time.

With expertly carved and pierced ivory sticks, the fan sports a paper leaf which has been hand-painted with a watercolor Chinoiserie landscape. However, instead of depicting the usual Chinese figures in Eastern dress, the men and women in the scene are show in fashionable European dress. Their faces, nevertheless, are meant to look Asian. One of the figures, a woman, is shown holding a paper fan with a floral pattern in pink which nearly replicates the flowers which have been painted on the reverse of the leaf. 

The fan was donated to the V&A by one Emily Beauclerk, its last owner.

Unfolding Pictures: A Chinese Feather Fan, 1911-1930

Feather Fan
China, 1911-1930
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Chinese have been producing fans from feathers for over 2000 years. These fans, with their dramatic tufts of colorful feathers, most often featured long handles made of bamboo or wood though specialty examples were made for high-ranking people with handles of ivory, jade or other carved hard-stone.

This example was actually made in modern times during a time when feathers were en vogue with contemporary fashions. Made between 1911 and 1930, this fan nods at Chinese antiquity with its brightly-colored fathers and gleaming handle made of carved hard-stone and glass adorned with a geometric pattern based on ancient Chinese bronzes (Ancient Chinese Bronzes, huh?). Two small red stones, possibly garnets, have been mounted on either side of the handle.

The fan was likely made in China for export to the U.K. where the Art Deco fashions dictated a renewed interest in the geometry of the Eastern arts. The color palette indicates that the fan would not have been intended for use by a Chinese woman, but rather a wealthy European lady whose tastes tended toward the trendy gold and brown colors which often dominated accessories of the era.

Donated by Lady Logan from the collection of her parents, Robert and Alexandra Everts, the fan is an excellent example of the kinds of Asian accessories which were in demand in the 1920s.

Unfolding Pictures: Brisé fan with Princess Augusta’s Monogram, c.1810

Fan
c. 1810
Tortoise Shell and Red Paste
The Royal Collection

Queen Mary’s interest in the history of the Royal Family was quite natural considering that she, herself, was the daughter of Her Serene Highness, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, one of the few remaining granddaughters of King George III. Queen Mary had a particular fascination with George III and his wife Queen Charlotte whom Mary thought she resembled (she did, in fact, look quite a lot like Queen Charlotte). Though Princess Mary Adelaide's marriage to the Duke of Teck was morganatic (meaning that he was, technically, not her equal being simply a Duke while she was a Princess, albeit a Serene Highness and not a Royal Highness), Mary of Teck took Queen Victoria’s point of view and didn’t let these minor differences distract her from realizing the importance of her father’s family history as well. 

Queen Mary’s maternal grandmother (The Cambridge side of the family), was Princess Augusta of Cambridge, daughter of King George III. Princess Augusta was also a collector, but not to the monumental proportions that her granddaughter was. It’s important not to confuse this Princess Augusta with Augusta, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg who was Mary’s maternal aunt (sister of Mary Adelaide and daughter of Princess Augusta and the Duke of Cambridge) and one of her dearest confidantes. Even I got temporarily confused when researching this object. Everybody shared the same ten names, so sometimes it’s hard to keep them straight.

Upon the 1840 death of Princess Augusta of Cambridge, an inventory was taken of her possessions. The lot included a set of fans which were valued at over £500. According to the Royal Collection, “these, together with the rest of the Princess’s estate, appear to have been divided among her family, a group of her fans being noted subsequently in Queen Victoria’s collection.” Six of these fans ended up in the permanent Royal Collection where they continue a traditional association with Princess Augusta. Here’s where the confusion can easily be seen. Even the Royal Collection confused the two Augustas. It’s recently been realized that several other fans described as having belonged to “one of the Queen’s [Mary's] aunts” also belonged to Princess Augusta. Most of the fans are brisé fans, which were extremely fashionable in England at the start of the Eighteenth Century.

This is one of ones that got away. A brisé fan is a fan where instead of a leaf of paper or leather, the sticks become gradually larger at the top to form the fan itself. This one is crafted from tortoise shell and red paste and dates to about 1810. There’s no doubt as to the ownership of this fan as it bears the monogram of Princess Augusta. Like many objects which had fallen out of the Royal Collection, this one was later purchased by Queen Mary who was eager to return it to its proper place.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Unfolding Pictures: The Sleeping Beauty Fan, 1888

The Sleeping Beauty Fan
Phoebe Traquair
Scotland, 1888
The Victoria & Albert Museum

By the 1880’s, hand fans were still fashionable, but they weren’t the social requirement that they were for ladies of the early Nineteenth Century. Fans continued to be made in huge numbers, and, varying materials and quality. Even by the end of the century, many ladies felt that their ensemble was incomplete without this comforting accessory.

Artists working in the then-growing Arts and Crafts style were always looking for new surfaces to adorn, and saw the fan leaf as unexplored territory for their stylistic movement. Among the most prolific of the Scottish Arts and Crafts designers was Phoebe Traquair (1852-1936) who is often considered the leader of the style in Scotland.

We’ve had a look at some of Traquair’s jewelry designs, and, they’re quite impressive. So, I thought it might be nice to look at a fan which features her painting. This fan leaf by Traquair depicts the story of the “Sleeping Beauty” and is distinguished by the artist’s celebrated dream-like style.

The silk leaf is painted with watercolors only on the obverse, with the reverse of the fan left natural. The Sleeping Beauty is being approached by Cupid as adolescent Pans cavort around her. The fanciful scene is typical of Traquair’s work. 

The fan itself, made in Edinburgh, features ivory sticks and guards. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Vanier-Chardin Fan, 1690

Folding Fan with a Leather and Paper Leaf, Ivory sticks and guards and mother-of-pearl ornament.
French, 1690
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This folding fan was made in the late Seventeenth Century and depicts a domestic scene in the sort of pastoral setting which was fashionable at the time. Here, amongst a view of shepherds an aristocrats, we see a child who has been fitted with tapes from the shoulders. This was a way of keeping a child steady while he or she learned to walk.

Folding fans such as this one originated in Japan and were introduced to Europe in the second half of the Sixteenth Century. While the construction of such fans was adopted by Europeans, they did away with traditional Asian adornment in favor of the European styles of the time. Carving and painting skills specific to fan production soon developed and an entire industry thrived for centuries as a fan was an essential accessory in the formal dress of a wealthy woman.

A perfect example of the work of the era, this French fan is constructed with a leather leaf which as been painted with gouache. It features sticks of pierced ivory, with mother of pearl washers and a brass rivet. The reverse of the leaf is mounted with paper which has also been painted in gouache

The leaves each have a ground wash of silver, some of which is visible in the sky and on the ground in the scenes. The reverse is painted with roses, peonies and jasmine. The original fan box of imitation and pink silk survives.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Adelaide’s Fan, 1830

Queen Adelaide's Fan
English with French leaf, 1830
Leaf by Alphonse Giroux
Gold Guards by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell
Leather, wood, ivory, gold, rubies, amethysts.
The Royal Collection

This magnificent fan of painted sheep’s leather, gilt wooden sticks and gold guards studded with amethysts and rubies, once belonged to Queen Adelaide, consort of King William IV and aunt of Queen Victoria. Clearly in the English style, the gold-work on the guards, with ciphers of A.R., is most likely the work of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. The leaf, however, was imported from France and is the work of Alphonse Giroux who was known for his elegant painted fan leaves. The leaf is painted in an Asian style and has applied ivory faces on the figures. Curiously, the heads have Western features, showing that they were most assuredly European in origin.


Queen Adelaide, upon the death of King William IV, was known as the Dowager Queen. Since none of her children had survived into adulthood, the throne passed to her niece, Victoria. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were extremely fond of Adelaide and made sure that she was well cared for. Upon her death, most of her personal possessions were bequeathed to Queen Victoria—including this fan. 

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Images Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II