Folding fan: M.7-1985

Maker(s)

Maker: Spenezi, Domenico (?)

Entities

• Folding fan

Categories

• Fans

Description

Folding fan, double skin leaf painted in watercolours. Sticks carved of ivory; guards of carved ivory (20+2) rivet of amethyst. Signed 'Domenico Spenezi, Napolitano in Roma' (?). Front: Mythological scene with Bacchus, the three maenads, Pan and Jupiter as an eagle. In the centre the child Bacchus is sitting, partly on a goat and partly on an amphora spilling wine. The three bare-breasted Maenads behind him are making music with a tambourine and a triangle with bells; on the left Pan with Satyr ears is sitting under a tree holding his syrinx. On the top right there is an amphora entwined by a vine, two putti and on the ground, Jupiter as an eagle, with vegetation at the right and the left edge of the leaf. There is an indistinct inscription at the top left corner. The edging is of a thin gold foile. Back: Bouquet of roses, tulips and bluebells in the centre; on the left, a single rose, three butterflies and two dragonflies; on the right, three butterflies, three dragonflies and a fly. The white skin leaf serves as a background. Sticks: Finely carved scrolling foliage. Five pairs of sticks show two women amid foliage. Reverse undecorated. Guards: Both guards are carved in the same way with scrolling foliage, a cornucopia, a man, a dolphin and a cockleshell.

Notes

History note: Colonel Leonard C. Messel (1872-1953); his daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse (1902-1992)

Legal notes

Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and a gift from the Friends of the Fitzwilliam

Place(s) associated

• Rome ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1985-01-28) by Countess of Rosse, Anne

Dating

18th Century, Mid
Production date: circa AD 1750