Folding fan: MAR.M.245-1912

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

• Folding fan
• fan

Categories

• Fans

Description

Folding fan, single skin leaf painted in watercolour with chinoiserie decoration. Sticks of shaped, carved and pierced ivory, guards of shaped carved and pierced ivory backed with pink foil (10+2), rivet of brass and washer of mother-of-pearl. Front: scene of scholars and servants. Back: silk production.

Folding fan, single skin leaf painted in watercolour with chinoiserie decoration. Sticks of shaped, carved and pierced ivory, guards of shaped carved and pierced ivory backed with pink foil (10+2), rivet of brass and washer of mother-of-pearl. Front: in the centre, a fenced podium with chequered floor; beside a river, two scholars and a servant holding a fan on a long stick, another servant with a similar fan is stepping up onto the podium. On the left, a similar setting with a man and his servant holding a sunshade and two women, one of them holding a fan. Left on the podium a table with a bowl of fruit; underneath, a man and a woman on horseback, and further right a peasant and a woman sitting on a footstool holding a fan over a brazier. On the right, stands a house with two people in it, underneath a man on horseback, one with a bow and arrow and one with a shield, standing in front of an awning. Between the central and left scenes a large tree; in the background, hills, houses and trees, a fisherman and a man playing with his child. Top, left and lower borders painted with a thin gold line. Back: The main scene in the left half of the leaf probably shows the production of silk. Three people are working under a net-like roof, baskets probably with silkworms in and outside a building; on the left, a large tree with a branch of three different blossoms. On the right half of the leaf, three separated red-bordered scenes: two little quails standing under a flower, a Chinese man on a sampan and a kneeling woman pouring liquid in a bowl; an exotic bird sitting on the right cartouche. Sticks: Unusually shaped like a flower with a thick stem and small blossom, finely carved and pierced with scrolling foliage, flowers and different patterns. Medallion with four European figures in the centre flanked by two medallions with chinoiserie decoration. On top of 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 9th sticks, naked putti with wings, playing with dogs. The reverse is undecorated. Guards: flowers on the bottom, a basket of flowers in a medallion, a winged putto surrounded by scrolling ornaments and a standing bare-chested woman.

Legal notes

C.B. Marlay Bequest

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

Production date: circa AD 1775

Note

Possibly Ducth

School or Style

Oriental style