Folding fan: M.258-1985

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

• Folding fan

Categories

• Fans

Description

Folding fan, double silk leaf, painted in bodycolour, stamped and decorated with sequins and leaves and flowers in green and gold. Sticks of carved and pierced tortoiseshell partly backed with painted and plain pieces of mother-of-pearl. Guards of carved and pierced tortoiseshell backed with imitation mother-of-pearl or mica (11+2). The design features three cartouches with men and women in period costume.

Folding fan, double silk leaf, painted in bodycolour, stamped and decorated with sequins and leaves and flowers in green and gold. Sticks of carved and pierced tortoiseshell partly backed with painted and plain pieces of mother-of-pearl. Guards of carved and pierced tortoiseshell backed with imitation mother-of-pearl or mica (11+2). Rivet of iron; washer of mother-of-pearl. Front: Three cartouches, bordered by two rows of sequins on a cream herringbone patterned background. In the central scene there are two ladies in contemporary dress, a gentleman sitting on a rock with a boy behind him and another man approaching from the left. Two circular sequin bordered medallions with landscapes flank the central cartouche. Between the medallions are floral sprays of stamped metal (and outside the circles in the other cartouches). Right and left edges have scrolling ornaments and green and gold applied metal pieces. The top edging is painted green, the lower one in brown. Back: The scenes from the front leaf have been traced. Sticks: two ladies are holding a fan, a cavalier offering a flower flanked by two little couples in a central cartouche formed by a ribbon. The ribbon has two loops on top right and left, with two coats of arms painted on mother-of-pearl. On either side of these, a putto is holding a frame with a mother-of-pearl panel, another putto sitting above a woman, and finally a stick with birds decorated with a garland of flowers. Guards: designed to complete the pattern of the sticks, the guards are decorated in a similar way: an oval with a vase and a winged putto with a garland sitting on top of the shoulder; on the bottom of the guard proper a basket sits in front of a building and above a sitting woman is playing with a dog. A bird, an open cage and swags of drapery form the top.

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