Skip to main content

Folding fan: M.234-1985

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 34 (Fan Gallery)

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Double leaf of cream silk, painted in bodycolour and gold and embroidered with gold beads and sequins. Silver paper binding on the upper edge. Sticks and guards of mother-of-pearl (18+2) , pierced, gilt and set with cut steel sequins. Neo-classical design.

Double leaf of cream silk, painted in bodycolour and gold and embroidered with gold beads and sequins. Silver paper binding on the upper edge. Sticks and guards of mother-of-pearl (18+2) , pierced, gilt and set with cut steel sequins; the guards also backed with gold foil. Steel rivet with mother-of-pearl washers.
Front: Painted in colours with a neo-classical design comprising three urns linked by sequins and beads to four baskets of fruit, the ground scattered with small gold scrolls and floral sprays. The border comprises a turquoise line, a brown zone decorated with green ovals imitating engraved gems, a scalloped silver zone decorated with floral sprays and a pale green zone decorated with gold scrolls, between purple lines. The outer zones are interrupted by four large and four small rectangular scenes painted en grisaille with a blue background to resemble Wedgwood cameos. Reverse: Undecorated.
Sticks: In the middle a cartouche containing an urn over a patera flanked by lozenges containing floral sprays and two elongated quatrefoils containing baskets of flowers.
The spaces between are pierced by flower heads and foliate scrolls and set with groups of cut steels.
Guards: On the lower part silvered and gilt musical instruments, music and stylized floral sprays, alternating with cut steel sequins; above a pierced design comprising, baskets, trophies and urns, set with cut steel sequins and backed by gold foil.

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 Museum

Acquisition and important dates

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

Dating

19th Century, Early#
George III or George IV
Circa 1800 - Circa 1830

School or Style

Neoclassical

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Leaf composed of silk ( cream) sequins ( gold) beads ( gold) bodycolour gold
Sticks+guards composed of sequins ( cut steel)
Guards composed of foil ( gold) Length 25.6 cm
Sticks+guards+washer composed of mother-of-pearl
Rivet composed of steel

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.234-1985
Primary reference Number: 117819
Old catalogue number: DR 26/335
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 15 July 2020 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Folding fan" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/117819 Accessed: 2024-11-22 05:23:48

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/117819 |title=Folding fan |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 05:23:48|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-117819

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...