A Court Fan
Maker: Unknown (Possibly)
Folding fan. Depicting a hero in armour before a queen on a throne, the surround with soldiers, companions and attendants. The reverse with a young woman and Cupid.
Hand painted. The ivory sticks are carved and pierced, with painted scenes in the gorge. The guards are decorated with a climbing spray of flowers in gold, and inset with rose diamonds, rubies, emeralds, an amethyst and sapphires. With original shagreen box.
History note: Lennox Boyd Estate. Christie's no. 66
Accepted by H. M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax from the Lennox Boyd Estate
Method of acquisition: Allocated (2015-04-27) by H.M. Government
18th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1760
This fan forms part of the collection of the Hon. Christopher Lennox Boyd, allocated to the Museum by H.M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax in 2015. The collection of over 600 fans ranges in date from the 18th to the 20th centuries and in type from bejewelled and hand-painted court and wedding fans, to printed mass-produced advertising fans, aide-memoire fans, mourning fans and children’s fans.
This fan was made for use at the court. Since it was customary to hold fans closed in the presence of royalty, the guard sticks of court fans took on a particular importance and were ‘dressed to impress’. As fashions changed, court fans were often destroyed to re-use the jewels, and so this example is a rare survivor.
Inset
composed of
diamonds
emeralds
rubies
sapphire
amethyst
Box
composed of
shagreen
Sticks, Guards
composed of
ivory
Guards
Leaf, Sticks
Sticks
Accession number: M.375 & A-2015
Primary reference Number: 204945
Sale number: 66
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "A Court Fan" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/204945 Accessed: 2024-12-31 19:34:11
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/204945
|title=A Court Fan
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-31 19:34:11|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-204945
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