Folding fan: M.239-1985

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

• Folding fan

Categories

• Fans

Description

Folding fan, double skin leaf, painted in bodycolour and gilt; sticks of pierced mother-of-pearl, inlaid with silver and gold; guards of pierced mother-of-pearl inlaid with silver and gold, backed with gold (14+2). Rivet set with silver. Front: Three pairs of unusually large figures are set in a very lush landscape with a bank on the left and a forest in the background. In the centre, two women are doing needlework; on the left a woman fanning her and a little figure holding a sunshade, both reminiscent of chinoiseries. On the right, in front of her, a woman is putting one arm around a man playing lute, sitting on a pillow. The scenes are flanked by a broad gold pattern, the top border comprising a war and garden trophy, birds, a vase of flowers, flowers (all painted in gold) and some roses. The top edging is of gold foil. Back: the centre is decorated with a swallow on a pedestal flanked by sprays of roses. Sticks: a man and a woman are making music in a central cartouche. The remaining sticks are decorated symmetrically with flowers and leaves, the first and last three are linked by swags. Guards: both guards are decorated in a similar way: a lozenge with twigs set on the shoulder, a flower, a vase and swags of drapery on the guard proper.

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