ENGRAVED FANS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. PART II.
IN England the fan’s comments on the public events of the eighteenth and the latter years of the preceding century begin with a satirical allusion to the intrigues of European diplomacy concerning the affairs of Poland. Ten female figures representing France, Spain, Sardinia, Empire, Saxony, Russia, Poland, Britannia, Holland, and Prussia are seated round a table, the first seven playing piquet; an empty chair, labelled ‘I pray to God for peace,’ is reserved for the Pope (Innocent XI.), who is seen on the left protesting that he does not understand the game. A figure in civilian dress in the foreground is holding a scroll which is lettered, ‘’Tis not the interest of the nation to play without advantage. In time Commerce might pay the cards.’ On the extreme right is the Sultan of Turkey on horseback, exclaiming, ‘If you don’t leave off, I’ll tear the cards,’ with the Shah of Persia on foot, saying, ‘Seigneur Jack, Persia shall make you change your note.’ The date is between 1679 and 1689, the period of the pontificate of Pope Innocent XI.
| A New Game of Piquet among the nations of Europe. | Schreiber Colln. British Museum. |
The coronation banquet of George II. in Westminster Hall, on October 11, 1727, is recorded in an extremely primitive etching. The king and queen are enthroned on a daïs in the centre of the fan; in the background are galleries of spectators, and in front the champion of England throws down his gauntlet. The subject is enclosed in a cartouche, and on the sides of the fan are the crown, sceptre, ampulla, vestments, etc.; the whole rudely coloured by hand.
It was, possibly, as some recompense for its author’s gallant defence of their most powerful weapon that the ladies helped to swell the tide of prosperity of the Beggar’s Opera, produced in November of this same year (1727). Fans were carried illustrating the favourite songs of the piece, which enjoyed its successful run of sixty-three nights, ‘making Gay rich and Rich gay.’
The defeat and withdrawal of Sir Robert Walpole’s excise scheme provided the occasion for many satires which appeared during the year 1733. In these Walpole is represented as an itinerant quack doctor, and as an exciseman, in which latter character he was hanged and burned in effigy on April 12th of the same year.
In the fan a comparison is drawn between Walpole and Wolsey, and on a medallion portrait of the last named is inscribed:
‘Wolsey and his Successor here in one behold.
Both serv’d their masters, both their Country Sold.’
A figure is seen walking in a garden with two papers in his hands, the one inscribed, ‘Liberty and Property,’ and the other, ‘No Dutch Politicks. Down with the Excise.’ In the mid-distance a figure holds a purse and draws attention to the portrait of Wolsey. Two barrels are figured in the foreground, together with the Excise Monster in the throes of death, on the body of which are inscribed the various articles affected, as Printing, Salt, Malt, Gin, etc.
The print has apparently been cut down, and evidently forms part of a design or series of designs.
M. Gamble advertises as follows in the Craftsman of June 9, 1733:—
‘This day is published for all Loyal Ladies, an Excise Fan; or the Political Monster as described in Fog’s Journal, May the 5th, curiously delineated, Being a Memorial for Posterity. In this most agreeable fan is represented:
‘I. A Picture of Cardinal Wolsey (the first Excise Master of England) done from an original Painting.
II. A view of his Feats on one Hand, and those of his Successor on the other.
III. An English Lawyer with two honest Briefs.
IV. The famous Monster-Monger, Ferdinando Ferdinandi, drawn to the Life.
V. The Death of the Excise Monster.
VI. A modern Inquisition with an Assembly of Merry Spectators (as Vintners, Tobacconist, etc.) of Ferdinando’s Lamentation over his departed Beast.
‘Now!
‘Tis in the Power of every British Fair
To turn Excises of all kinds to Air.’
‘Sold by M. Gamble at the Golden Fan in St. Martin’s Court near Leicester Fields. Price 2s. 6d.’
On August 25 of the same year, M. Gamble again advertises the fan and adds:—
‘This is the Fan mentioned in the London Magazine; it will be very useful at all meetings for nominating Members of Parliament, not only for cooling the Heats which may arise, but to show the nature of an arbitrary Monster.
‘Now is the Time when every British Fair
May turn Excises of all kinds to air.’
‘There is now published the third Edition with additions.’
The marriage of the Crown Princess with the Prince of Orange in 1734 was the occasion of much rejoicing, and the nuptials were celebrated with the greatest magnificence, the prince receiving with his bride the sum of £80,000 as portion. In an address to His Majesty from the loyal and dutiful citizens of London, the greatest glory, the brightest triumphs, the most distinguished prosperity are presaged from another alliance with that truly illustrious house, the house of Nassau; ‘from whence so many heroes have sprung, the scourges of tyrants and the asserters of liberty.’
The fan joins in the general congratulatory chorus; a view of the marriage ceremony in the French Chapel of St. James’s Palace is given; the King and Queen, with the royal family, are seated in boxes at the back.
There was an allegorical version of this event, in which the contracting parties appear in classic costume, with a bishop and other persons in the background in the costume of the period. In front Hymen lights his torch from that of Cupid. In other parts of the composition are seen: An infant embracing a lamb, a pelican in her piety, an infant Hercules killing serpents, etc. The whole surrounded by an orange border.
Several variations of this are extant, one omitting the orange-trees, with a border printed from another plate.
The following advertisement appeared in the Craftsman for July 7, 1733:—
‘Just Published
‘By Jonathan Pinchbeck, Fanmaker, at the Fan and Crown in New Round Court in the Strand; and sold by him, and at the Fan-shops of London and Westminster.
‘The Nassau Fan; or Love and Beauty Triumphant: Being an Encomium on the Nuptial Ceremony which will shortly be consummated between his Highness the Prince of Orange and the Princess Royal of England; adorned with the Pictures of those illustrious Personages, attended by Hymen, Fame, Minerva, Cupids, etc. Together with a copy of Verses and other Decorations suitable to the occasion.
‘N.B.—Beware of Counterfeits; the true original Nassau Fans having the name (Pinchbeck) prefix’d to the mount.’
On August 18th this advertisement is repeated, with the additional statement that ‘there are a few neatly printed on leather for the curious,’ and a note to the following effect:—‘A spurious edition of the Nassau Fan has been lately offer’d to the publick, in Prejudice to the Original Nassau Fan; but as all Persons that have seen both are fully satisfy’d that it bears no comparison with the former, ‘tis no wonder that the Design to lessen the original in the esteem of the Publick, proves as fruitless as the Attempt is unfair and ungenerous’; this evidently referring to the following, which had appeared in the Craftsman a week earlier, August 11:—
‘This day is Published
‘The New Nassau Fan, humbly dedicated to her Royal Highness Princess Anne,
By her Highness’s most humble
and devoted servant,
Richard Hylton.‘In this fan is represented the Portraitures of his Highness William, Prince of Orange and Nassau, etc., and her Royal Highness Princess Anne (done from the original Painting of Van Dyke and Hysing), in an Orbit, supported by Cupids, adorn’d with other emblematical Ornaments, disposed in a curious and beautiful Manner.
‘To be had of the aforesaid Richard Hylton, at the Golden Fan in Great George St., Hanover Square.’
On September 1st this advertisement is repeated, with the addition of the following couplet:—
‘Just Heaven does Anne and Nassau joyn,
To glad great George and Caroline.’
And the following reply to Pinchbeck’s advertisements of 7th July and 18th August:—
‘N.B.—This is to inform that ingenious Gentleman (who calls himself) the Proprietor of a Nassau Fan, that he has been guilty of a very gross Error, and has prejudiced himself by informing the Publick that he knows no Difference between a Fan which is made like the Frontispiece of a Halfpenny Ballad, and one that’s done in a curious Manner by one of the best Hands in England.’
| The Motion. 1741. The New Nassau Fan. 1733. | Schreiber Colln. British Museum. |
This sally calls forth the following rejoinder from Pinchbeck, who, on September 15th, repeats his former advertisement, with this footnote:—
‘N.B.—I would not have the splenetick Author of (as he calls it) the loyal Nassau Fan imagine that I think him capable either of doing, or saying, any Thing Worthy of Notice, tho’ for once I condescend to inform him that the Publick are sufficiently convinc’d of his Ignorance in putting his Trifle in Competition with the Original Nassau Fan, as well as of his Malice in perverting the Sense of my Advertisement. I shall, however, submit my Performance to the judgment of the Publick, and not trouble them with quackish Epistles quite foreign to the Purpose.
‘Beware of Counterfeits. The Original Nassau Fan having the name (Pinchbeck) prefix’d to the Mount.’
On September 22nd, Pinchbeck repeats his advertisement, and once again cautions the public against counterfeits. (In the highest esteem among the Ladies, and infinitely surpasseth every Thing of the Kind offered to the Publick.)
A month earlier a fresh candidate for public favour had appeared in the shape of the ‘Orange Fan,’ a composition of an orange-tree and a rose-bush, with a view of London in the distance, a three-masted vessel in the foreground, and above, a dove holding in his beak a letter addressed ‘To The Lovely She, Who has more than 80,000 Charms’; on the upper and lower border of the fan, an ode in five stanzas, ‘set to Music: Tune, Let’s be Jolly; fill our Glasses.’
This was advertised by M. Gamble in the Craftsman for August 25th, the charms of the ‘Lovely She’ being reduced in the advertisement to 30,000.
‘Once more the Orange joins the British Rose,
And fragrant Sweets they mutually disclose;
Entwin’d by Nature’s Bonds, their Charms unite,
And from the Foil the Jewel shines more bright.’
The price of the Mount painted in proper colours, 1s. 6d.
Ready mounted upon neat sticks, 2s. 6d.
The ‘New Nassau Fan,’ advertised by Hylton, is here given, and must certainly be said to bear very fair comparison with Pinchbeck’s. The portraits of the royal pair occupy a medallion in the centre, supported by Cupids above; two winged figures are holding a wreath and blowing trumpets, from which are suspended the royal arms of the two respective countries.
Below is a ribbon inscribed, ‘Ad Altiora Speramus,’ with a Cupid holding a royal crown and star. A scroll, at the extremities of which are two medals of George II. and William the Silent, Prince of Orange, is inscribed:
‘Brittons now yr Poems sing,
Love and Beauty Garlands bring;
Heavens Ann and Nassau joyn
To glad George and Caroline.’
In addition are figures of Peace with olive branch and dove, and Liberty holding cap on a staff, together with a Bible inscribed ‘B. Sacra,’ a lion at her feet.
The fan is freely etched, coloured by hand, and mounted on plain wavy wooden sticks.
Pinchbeck continued to advertise his fan until April 20, 1734, when, presumably, popular interest in the affair waned.
In 1730-33, Hogarth produced his ‘Harlot’s Progress’ (commenced at the time of his marriage), its various scenes being promptly pirated by the fan-makers. Mr. F. G. Stephens, in his Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires, British Museum, vol. iii. part I, page 28, refers to fans printed with copies from ‘A Harlot’s Progress,’ three designs being on each side of the fan, usually printed in red ink. These fans, says Nichols, Hogarth’s biographer, were customarily given to the maid-servants in Hogarth’s family, doubtless as moral lessons.[152] M. Gamble had advertised them during the year 1733 in the Craftsman and Daily Journal. In a footnote to his advertisement of the Church of England fan we have the following:—
N.B.—‘For those that are Curious, a small number are work’d off on fine Paper, fit to Frame. Likewise a new Edition of the ‘Harlot’s Progress’ in Fans, or singly to Frame.’—Daily Journal, Jan. 24, 1733.
By the kindness of Mr. C. Fairfax Murray we are enabled to illustrate an excellent example of one of these very rare fan leaves, inscribed in ink (probably by the collector Baker), ‘Given to me by Mrs. Hogarth, 1781.’ In the centre is the quack doctor, printed in a greenish yellow, the two side scenes of ‘Bridewell’ and the ‘Funeral’ in a rich red, the fan being engraved in pure line. The scenes are inscribed respectively—‘In a high Salivation’; ‘In Bridewell beating of Hemp’; and the ‘Funeral’; with suitable explanatory verses.
| The Harlot’s Progress, after Hogarth. | Mr C. Fairfax Murray. |
Other fans were issued, these probably by another publisher, giving the various scenes grouped together, the figures slightly rearranged to suit the space, indifferently etched in outline, and printed in red on skin. Five leaves appear in the Schreiber collection; the first gives the whole composition; the second, the same, with several scenes omitted; the third, with further omissions; the fourth, with the central subject only, of the arrival of ‘Mary Hackabout in London,’ partially coloured by hand; the fifth, a spoiled, indistinct print, covered with a Chinese landscape printed in black, the evident intention being to utilise the skin mount.
The print of the Midnight Modern Conversation, 1733, copied by salt-glazed potters of the period, and appearing on snuff-boxes and punch-bowls, for the latter of which it was eminently suitable, was used also for a fan mount.
In this print, to quote Mr. Austin Dobson, a party of eleven, whose degrees of intoxication are admirably differentiated, have finished some two dozen bottles of claret; and at four in the morning are commencing a capacious bowl of punch, presided over by a rosy-gilled parson—the
‘Fortem validumque combibonem
Laetantem super amphora repleta’
of the Westminster Latinist, Vincent Bourne; but in real life identified both with the famous ‘Orator’ Henley, and the Rev. Cornelius Ford, a dissolute cousin of Dr. Johnson.
In the Daily Journal for May 24, 1733, we have the following advertisement:—
‘This Day is Published,
‘A Beautiful Mount for a Fan, call’d the Midnight Modern Conversation, curiously performed from that incomparable Design of that celebrated Artist the ingenious Mr. Hogarth; to which is prefixed, for the Entertainment of the Ladies, a Description of each particular Person that Gentleman hath introduced in that Night Scene. Sold at Mr. Chinavax’s great Toyshop against Suffolk-street, Charing Cross; Mr. Deard’s against St. Dunstan’s Church, Fleet Street; Mrs. Cambal in St. Martin’s Court; and by B. Dickinson at Inigo Jones’ Head against Exeter Change in the Strand, at which Place they may be had Wholesale at reasonable Rates.’
No print of this fan-mount is available for reproduction.
The victory of Admiral Vernon in his good ship the Burford at Portobello, on the 22nd November 1739, though not a particularly significant feat even with six ships of the line, was immensely popular with the masses. It was a familiar subject with the potters, especially the Staffordshire potter Astbury, who commemorated it on tea-pots, mugs, and the Portobello bowl.
The fan is not very interesting as a design, the six ships appearing to overpower the fortress, which was an old one. Five stanzas of verse appear, expressing the determination to avenge the wrongs of Britons, to support her injured trade, etc.
‘Hark, the British Cannon thunders,
See, my Lads, six Ships appear;
Every Briton acting Wonders,
Strikes the Southern World with fear.
Porto Bello, fam’d in Story,
Now at last submits to fate;
Vernon’s courage gains us Glory,
And his Mercy proves us great.’
The etching is signed ‘F. Chassereau, April ye 22, 1740.’
Vernon’s exploit at Carthagena, April 1, 1740, is also recorded; on the left, a view of the English camp; on the right, the flying inhabitants, including a figure named ‘Don Blas’; the fan inscribed ‘Cartagena.’
The motion by Mr. Sandys in the House of Commons on January 29, 1740, and that of Lord Carteret in the House of Lords on February 13, 1741, to remove Sir Robert Walpole (who at that time was exceedingly unpopular) from his post of Prime Minister, is commemorated on a fan which is a free copy from a print published by T. Cooper at the Globe in Paternoster Row, 1741, and referred to in a letter of Horace Walpole, written from Florence to his friend Conway, March 25, 1741: ‘I have received a print by this post that diverts me extremely: the Motion. Tell me, dear, now, who made the design, and who took the likenesses: they are admirable; the lines are as good as one sees on such occasions. I wrote last post to Sir Robert, to wish him joy; I hope he received my letter.’
The scene is Whitehall, with the Treasury in the distance. A coach containing Lord Carteret, who is leaning out of the window and crying, ‘Let me get out,’ is driven by the Duke of Argyll, brandishing a flaming sword, the Earl of Chesterfield as postilion. Bubb Dodington, in the form of a spaniel, is seated between the Duke’s legs. Lord Cobham behind as footman. Lord Lyttelton follows on horseback, whip in hand. Several persons are being overridden by the coach, which is nearly overturned. Mr. Sandys, in the foreground, is dropping the ‘Place Bill,’ and exclaiming, ‘I thought what would come of putting him on the box.’ Pulteney, exclaiming, ‘Z—nds! they’re over,’ and leading his followers by the nose, wheels a barrow laden with ‘Craftsman,’ ‘Letters to the Earl,’ ‘State of Nat—’, ‘Champion,’ ‘Common Sense,’ etc., with a dice box and dice. Dr. Smalbroke, Bishop of Lichfield, accompanied by three pigs (one only in the original print), bows obsequiously.
The ten verses which appeared on the print are inscribed on the right hand of the fan. In ‘nigger’ parlance they at once propound questions and supply the answers, thus:
‘Who be dat de Box do sit on?
‘Tis John, the Hero of North Britain,
Who out of Place does Placemen spit on.
Doodle, etc.
.........
Who’s dat behind? ‘Tis Dicky Cobby,
Who first wou’d have hanged and then try’d Bobby.
Ah, was not that a pretty Jobb-e.
Doodle, etc.
.........
So, sirs, me have shown you all de Hero’s,
Who put you together by the Ear-os,
And frighten you so with groundless Fear-os.
Doodle, etc.’
Thomas Wright (Caricature History of the Georges) thus refers to the prints: ‘Several editions of “The Motion” were published, and one, in the collection of Mr. Burke, is fitted for a fan. Another, very neatly drawn and etched on a folio plate, and dated February 19th, contains great variations, and wants much of the pointed meaning of the genuine print. They here appear to be driving into a river. Pulteney and Sandys are omitted; two prelates hold on to the straps behind the coach, which seems in imminent danger of falling; yet Carteret cries out to his driver, “John, if you drive so fast, you’ll overset us all, by G—d.”’
On the 2nd of March the ‘Patriots’ retaliated with a caricature entitled ‘The Reason,’ in which we have another carriage with the portly form of Sir Robert Walpole as coachman:
‘Who be dat de box do sit on?
Dat’s de driver of G— B—,
Whom all the Patriots do spit on.’
In this print, the foppish and effeminate Lord Hervey, well known by Pope’s sarcastic title of ‘Lord Fanny,’ is riding, fan in hand, on a wooden horse, drawn by two men, one of whom cries, ‘Sit fast, Fanny; we are sure to win.’
‘Dat painted butterfly so prim-a,
On wooden Pegasus so trim-a,
Is something—nothing—’tis a whim-a.’
The fan-makers were not slow in following up with a fan. On April 25, the following advertisement appeared in the Craftsman:—
‘This day is published, by J. Pinchbeck at the Fan and Crown in New Round Court, in the Strand.
‘The Reason for the Motion. A Satire, whereon are the Portraits of divers Noble Personages. To which is annexed, Explanatory Verses, which will serve as a Key to the Whole.
‘Where may be had, All sorts of Fans and Fan-Mounts. The newest fashion, and suited to the nicest Taste. Wholesale or Retail.
‘N.B.—Gentlemen and Ladies may have any Device done in a curious Manner, according to their own Direction.
‘There is a Spurious Sort about the Town, which has not the Verses, and but part of the Figures.’
The Jacobite rebellion of 1745 was commemorated by a fan leaf engraved by Sir Robert Strange, intended for the sympathisers with the Pretender. The moment for the rebellion was well chosen—the king was in Hanover, the Duke of Cumberland had fought and lost Fontenoy in April of the same year, and was still engaged in Flanders. The fan shows the Prince in armour, with Cameron of Lochiel as Mars, and Flora Macdonald as Bellona.
In the fan representing the apotheosis of the Young Pretender, the Prince, supported by Mars and Bellona, is claiming the inheritance of the English crown; a figure of Fame bears the laurel wreath, at his side is an altar blazing with devoted hearts, and above are Venus and Cupid seated on a cloud. On the left, Britannia smiles through her tears as a dove approaches bearing the palm branch, emblem of Peace. On the right, Jupiter with his thunder scatters the Hanoverian faction into obscurity, and Rapine and Murder are prostrated. An example, carefully coloured, appeared in the Walker sale in 1882, and passed into the possession of Lady Charlotte Schreiber for the sum of £7. The stick is ivory, carved with subjects and fretwork.
The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed October 7, 1748, was celebrated in the following April by a grand display of fireworks in the Green Park, opposite to His Majesty’s library. A fan fairly well engraved, the design well disposed, shows a view of the temporary building erected for this purpose, which consisted of a ‘magnificent Doric temple,’ with two extended wings terminated by pavilions, the whole being one hundred and fourteen feet high and four hundred and ten feet long. The exhibition began about nine o’clock in the evening, and was introduced by ‘a grand overture of warlike instruments composed by Mr. Handel.’ About eleven o’clock the whole building was illuminated, in which state it continued till between two and three in the morning; His Majesty and the royal family retiring about twelve.
The untimely death of the Prince of Wales in 1751 threw London into mourning, the fan following suit with a portrait bust of Frederick on a cenotaph, with mourning figures of Art, Science, and Britannia, a figure of Hope with an anchor occupying the foreground. The fan here, true to its antecedents, discovers more loyalty than did some of the rhymesters of the period, one of whom produced an epitaph of which the following is a portion:—
... ‘Since ‘tis only Fred,
Who was alive and is dead.
There’s no more to be said.’
Wolfe’s victory in 1759, commemorated in Bow statuettes and Staffordshire busts and jugs, supplied the fan-makers also with a subject for illustration: in a life of Wolfe it is mentioned that fans were printed of the taking of Quebec.
Admiral Rodney is another instance in which both potters and fanmakers vied with each other in honouring the hero of the hour. The fan in the Schreiber collection is delicately engraved in mezzotint, and shows Rodney trampling upon the French and Spanish flags. Neptune is offering a sea crown, while a Cupid above bears a laurel wreath. The picture is supplemented by festoons, ribbons, and other devices; the whole coloured by hand.
The fan abundantly testifies to the popularity of the reigning house of Hanover. Thus we have, in addition to the loyal fans already referred to, a medallion portrait of George III., held in the hand of Neptune, who is seated in his chariot drawn by four horses, and driven by a Cupid who blows a blast from a trumpet. This designed by Uwins and engraved in stipple by Cardon.
The king also appears as the subject of a large medallion on a pedestal surrounded by Cupids and a figure of Fame with trumpet. In the foreground are figures of Britannia and Commerce; on a tripod with a flaming heart is inscribed, ‘The Heart of the Nation.’ On each side the initials G. R. and the royal crown. Published May 13, 1791, by A. P. Birman, the fan being signed A. P. Birnam, Invt.; W. Hinks, Sculpt. This fan leaf is a free copy from that engraved by D. Chodowiecki in 1787, commemorating the accession of Frederick William II. to the throne of Prussia, and was made to do duty both for the King and the Duke of York by the alteration of the bust, and the substitution of the initials D. Y. for G. R., the arabesques re-engraved.
The royal family appear on six medallion portraits united by a ribbon, with the royal crown, feathers, and a trophy of arms, flags, etc., the latter indicating the martial proclivities of the Duke of York.[153]
Another fan gives a large Royal Arms surmounted by the crowned lion, with the rose and thistle and the initials G. R. in medallions on either side, united by festoons of flowers with doves; the royal motto, ‘Dieu et mon Droit,’ on a scroll below; the fan inscribed, ‘Vive Le Roy.’ Published by T. Balster, March 19, 1789.
A ‘Representation of a Royal Concert at Buckingham House’ is a copy of an engraving by Barlow after a drawing by Cruikshank. ‘Publish’d as the Act directs, October 16, 1781, by J. Preston at his Music Warehouse, No. 97, near Beaufort Buildings, Strand.’ In the subject occupying the centre of the fan, the king appears seated at the right-hand corner. At the sides, a canone and canzonet by Giordani, together with a French and Venetian canzonet, with music.
In 1788 the royal family honoured the exhibition of the Royal Academy with a visit; this event being commemorated on two fans varying considerably in the number and disposition of the figures, and in the arrangement of the background. The fan leaf in the Schreiber collection is designed by ‘P. Ramberg, P. Martini, Sculpt. Pubd March 6, 1789, by A. Poggi, St. George’s Row, Hyde Park,’ this being from Martini’s original plate, also published by Poggi, cut down to the shape of a fan.
The fan leaf at present in the collection at South Kensington is printed on vellum and tinted, and is accompanied by an engraved key to the different personages depicted on the fan.
| Visit of George III. to the Royal Academy. | Mr F. Perigal. |
The marriage of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.) to Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795, provides the occasion for a fan, with two oval medallion portraits in stipple of ‘The Illustrious Pair,’ on either side of a large Prince of Wales’s feathers. ‘Publish’d Janry 1, 1795, by J. Read, 133 Pall Mall.’ The same plate was printed in colours and published on the same date. The ‘Royal Pair’ again appear in the form of medallion portraits, with the Royal Arms of Great Britain and Brunswick. Still another fan commemorative of this event shows bust portraits of the prince and princess in the midst of a medley of prints, riddles, etc., with a frieze of caricature busts of various personages. ‘Published at Sudlow’s Fan Warehouse, 191 Strand.’
‘The Prince of Wales’ (Schreiber collection of unmounted fan leaves, No. 11) is a quite charming fan leaf. The medallion portrait is printed in a warm brown, the field of the fan painted in blue of a pleasant quality, the ornaments painted in silver and Chinese white. This is a scheme of colour adopted on many fans of the period; the four colours forming an extremely effective harmony.
The popularity of Lord Howe’s victory over the French on the ‘glorious first of June,’ 1794, is evinced by the frequency with which it was commemorated on English pottery in the shape of statuettes, medallions, mugs, jugs, etc. On the fan also we have the subject of a seated Britannia bearing a medallion portrait of the admiral; the union jack, lion, cornucopia, and a figure of Fame completing the composition. The fan inscribed, ‘Lord Howe’s decisive victory over the Grand French fleet, June 1, 1794.’ This published by B. Coker, 118 Fleet Street, August 19, 1794. An example occurs in the collection of Mr. Burdett-Coutts.
A ‘view of the trial of Warren Hastings, Esq., at Westminster Hall’ in 1778, is given in the centre of a fan having oval medallions at the sides with references to the numbers on the engraving, as follows:—
‘A. Honble House of Commons. B. Foreign Ministers. C. Duke of Newcastle’s Gallery. D. Councell for the Prosecution. E. Councell for the Prisoner. F. Dukes, &c. &c. G. Peeresses. H. Board of Works. I. The Throne. K. Recess for His Majesty. L. Recess for the Royal Family. M. Judges. N. Lord High Chancellor. O. Vicounts and Barons. P. Warren Hastings, Esq., Prisoner. Q. Committee of the House of Commons.
‘Publish’d as the Act directs by Cock & Co., No. 36 Snow Hill. Septr. 22nd, 1788.’
Church-fans appeared in the early part of the century.[154] These were designed for the purpose of inculcating the spirit of true piety during the hours of divine worship. Comments were made in the public journals on the unsuitable character of fan mounts used in church, and also on the general behaviour of persons of both sexes. These culminated in an amusing satire which appeared in the form of a letter from Vetustus, in the Gentleman’s Magazine for May 1753. In this the writer expresses some surprise that ‘in the course of the controversy now on foot concerning the expedience of a revision of our liturgy, no mention has been made of some ceremonies introduced by certain polite persons of both sexes, who, if they may not be styled the pillars, have undoubted right to be called the ornaments of the Church of England. That of the snuff-box may be allowed to obviate some part of the objection to the length of the service, since it precludes the drowsy members of the congregation from any subterfuge in that excuse of Horace:
“Operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.”
The writer desires also ‘to do a piece of justice to the ladies who have lately contrived to improve the service of the Church, though by so inconsiderable an implement as a fan mount; for, reflecting that some of the grosser sex may probably come to church chiefly on account of these fair beings, and that the devotion of these their brethren might cool by having the immediate object of it withdrawn from their view, during the tedious intervals of prayer, they have been so charitable as to supply them with some edifying subjects of contemplation, depicted on the very cloud which intercepts the beatific vision.’
As an instance of the taste and discretion of these fair votaries, a list is subjoined of a dozen designs elegantly executed, which were actually displayed by way of screens to so many pretty faces, disposed in a semicircular arrangement about the holy table:
1. Darby and Joan, with their attributes.
2. Harlequin, Pierrot, and Columbine.
3. The Prodigal Son with his harlots, copied from the ‘Rake’s Progress.’
4. A rural dance, with a band of musick, consisting of a fiddle, a bag-pipe, and a Welch-harp.
5. The taking of Porto Bello.
6. The Solemnities of a Filiation.
7. Joseph and his Mistress.
8. The humours of Change-Alley.
9. Silenus, with his proper symbols and supporters.
10. The first interview of Isaac and Rebecca.
11. The Judgment of Paris.
12. Vauxhall Gardens, with the decorations and company.
The writer is ‘well aware that the authors of the free and candid disquisitions will be humbly suggesting, in their canting way, whether some of these figures may be altogether suitable to the original design of that sacred rite, at which they assist on these occasions; and whether, if our British ladies are too nicely modest to worship God with naked faces, they should not return to the ancient simplicity of a plain linnen or Sarcenet veil, after the manner of the Jewish females. But, besides that all impropriety is absolutely removed from these representations by the mixture of so much Scripture history, these Cavillers must be told that this is an old objection answered and baffled long ago by the pious and conscientious Dr. Swift (whose tender concern for the honour of the Church of England is well known) in a religious sonnet which closes with an elevated sentiment couched in the following couplet:
“How beauteous is the Church, which makes clean linnen
As decent to repent in, as to sin in.”’
This bone of contention, apparently, lasted during a considerable period.
In the Lady’s Magazine for March 1776, a ‘Female Reformer’ addresses to the fair sex some ‘moral reflections’ on ladies’ fans, and draws attention to the loose, almost indecent, mounts ladies have to their fans at the present day, giving too much reason to suppose that a coarse, indelicate, and immodest picture is not so offensive to the view of the fair as prudence, virtue, and chastity could wish. ‘Not many Sundays ago, I was seated in a dissenting place of worship in the next pew to two young ladies, who appeared suitably attentive and devout; but, happening to cast my eyes on the fan mount of the youngest of the two, as she stood up in prayer time, I was really ashamed to see naked Cupids, and women almost so, represented as sleeping under trees, while dancing shepherds and piping fawns compleated the shameful groupe. What a pity it is that any lady should seem to countenance immodesty or indecency in the least degree, especially in the house of God! Would it not have been much better for ladies to have no fans at all, than to have such mounts to them, as, on beholding, tend only to inflame the passions, and promote the loosest ideas?’
Evidently this protest bore good fruit, as, three months later, a church-fan of chaste design appeared. This gives, in the centre, a diagram of a good woman’s heart, divided, as a phrenological diagram divides the brain, into the several virtues or attributes, as Charity, Humility, Chastity and Honour, Virtue and Truth, etc. etc. Above the heart appears a drapery inscribed, ‘The Address of a Scripture Looking-glass to every Woman’—this consisting of the following texts: Proverbs xxxi. 30; 1 Peter iii. 3; 1 Timothy iv. 8. At the two extremities of the fan are scrolls with ‘a description of a good woman,’ and a poem entitled ‘The Wish’—this latter being a prayer and supplication to the Almighty to
‘Be the guardian of the virtuous fair,
Bless them with all things that they truly need,
And in Religion’s paths their footsteps lead.’
The whole design enclosed in a scroll with a rose and honeysuckle filling the intervening spaces. Printed, as the Act directs, for J. French, No. 17 Holborn Hill.
In May 1796 ‘the new church-fan’ appears, a much more pretentious design, engraved in stipple, and ‘published with the Approbation of the Lord Bishop of London.’ The Ten Commandments are given in the centre, with the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed on either side; these are alternated with medallions of angels, above which are prayers for the king’s majesty and the royal family. At the extreme top of the fan is a figure of the Holy Spirit with three cherubs, the whole being enclosed within an elaborate border formed of royal crowns and Prince of Wales’s feathers.
Mindful of the protest of the ‘Female Reformer’ in the Lady’s Magazine, although perhaps somewhat belated (it will be remembered that the ‘naked Cupids and ladies almost so’ were observed in a dissenting place of worship), the ‘chapel-fan’ appears, in July of this same year, 1796, having in the centre a large medallion of the resurrection of a pious family, after a picture by the Rev. W. Peters, inscribed, ‘Glory to God in the Highest,’ and on either side smaller medallions representing ‘St. Cecilia’ and ‘The Infant Samuel at Prayer.’ The fan is further inscribed with a morning and evening prayer and two hymns—‘The Example of Christ,’ and ‘On Retirement and Meditation.’
A number of fans were from time to time issued with subjects from Scripture history, doubtless for church use, as ‘The Birth of Esau and Jacob,’ in which we have an illustration of Rebekah in bed, attended by female servants; ‘Moses striking the Rock,’ Published by M. Gamble, according to the late Act, 1740; ‘Paul Preaching at Athens,’ etc. These, however, are extremely weak productions, exhibiting none of that sense of character distinguishing similar subjects treated by the Staffordshire potter of this and a later period.
Mr. Thomas Osborne’s Duck-Hunting records an event in the history of a bookseller of Gray’s Inn Gate, Holborn, at his country-house at Hampstead in 1754. A certain Captain Pratten, who had obtained some notoriety through his very particular attentions to the wife of Mr. Scarlett, an optician of Soho, ‘whose Microscope for viewing opake objects is still in use,’ but who, apparently, did not possess any microscope or optic glass through which he might view events which were sufficiently transparent to every one but himself, had proposed to Mr. Osborne that by way of house-warming he should ingratiate himself with the families of Hampstead, ‘then a Watering-place and very gay,’ by giving a public breakfast for the ladies and a duck-hunting for the gentlemen.
On the morning of the 10th of September of the year in question the company assembled, the broad panniered petticoats of the ladies making a very brave array, and, the breakfast and duck-hunting proving so successful, our waggish Captain, who had installed himself master of the ceremonies, mindful, doubtless, of his own private and particular duck-hunting, persuaded the vain and simple bookseller to prolong the entertainment, first by a cold collation and other diversions, and finally by a dance, in which the ‘younger part of the company tripped on the light fantastic toe till bedtime.’
As a souvenir of the event, the gallant and resourceful Captain further persuaded Mr. Osborne to have a fan engraved and presented to each of the lady visitors.
| Mr Thomas Osborne’s Duck Hunting, obverse & reverse. | Schreiber Colln., British Museum. |
This is engraved on both sides; on the obverse, the duck-hunting, with the Captain and his innamorata in the immediate foreground; on the reverse, a general view of the house and grounds.[155]
Conversation- or speaking-fans are devices by which the different motions of the fan are made to correspond with the letters of the alphabet, a code being established by means of which a silent and secret conversation is carried on.
Five signals are given, corresponding to the five divisions of the alphabet, the different letters, omitting the J, being capable of division into five, the movements 1 2 3 4 5 corresponding to each letter in each division. 1. By moving the fan with left hand to right arm. 2. The same movement, but with right hand to left arm. 3. Placing against bosom. 4. Raising it to the mouth. 5. To forehead.
Example:—Suppose Dear to be the word to be expressed. D belonging to the first division, the fan must be moved to the right; then, as the number underwritten is 4, the fan is raised to the mouth. E, belonging to the same division, the fan is likewise moved to the right, and, as the number underwritten is 5, the fan is lifted to the head and so forth. The termination of each word is distinguished by a full display of the fan, and as the whole directions with illustrations are displayed on the fan, this language is more simple than at first sight might appear.
The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1740 prints the following effusion, referring presumably to one of the earliest of these fans:—
‘A speaking fan! a very pretty thought;
The toy is sure to full perfection brought:
It is a noble, useful, great design,
May the projector’s genius ever shine!
The fair one now need never be alone!
A hardship sometimes on the sex is thrown;
For female notions are of that extent
Impossible, one I thought should give ’em vent.
New schemes of dress, intrigue and play,
Want new expressions every day:
And doubly blest! must be that mortal man,
Who may converse with Sylvia and her Fan.’
‘The Original Fanology, or Ladies’ Conversation fan,’ was invented by Charles Francis Badini, and published as the Act directs by Wm. Cock, 42 Pall Mall, Aug. 7, 1797.
‘The telegraph of Cupid in this fan,
Though you should find, suspect no wrong;
’Tis but a simple and diverting plan
For Ladies to chit-chat and hold the tongue.’
A fanology fan, of different design but with the same directions, invented by Badini, was published five months earlier (March 18) by Robert Clarke, Fanmaker, No. 26 Strand, London.
The new conversation or tête-a-tête fan gives as a centre medallion Venus robbing Cupid of his Bow, with inscribed compartments on both sides, having reference to the Answer and Question of the Lady to the Gentleman.
The language of the fan has already been referred to in an earlier chapter, portions of the code being given. See Spanish fans, page 137.
Gypsy, fortune-telling and necromantic fans form a large class, and were common during the latter part of the eighteenth century. As early, however, as Aug. 3, 1734, a necromantic fan was advertised in the Craftsman as follows:—
‘By Eo, Meo, & Areo.
On Monday last was published
The Necromantick Fan; or, Magick Glass.
Being a new-invented Machine Fan, that by a
slight Touch unseen a Lady in the Fan changes her
Dressing-Glass according to the following Invitations:
If any one himself would see,
Pray send the Gentleman to me:
For in my Magick Glass I show
The Pedant, Poet, Cit, or Beau;
Likewise a Statesman wisely dull,
Whose plodding Head’s with Treaties full.
Etc.
Made and sold by Edward Vaughan,
Fanmaker, at the Golden Fan near the Chapel in
Russel Court, Drury Lane.’
A necromantic fan was issued by Gamble; ‘Dear Doctor consult the Stars,’ representing an old necromancer being consulted by ladies.
‘Gypsy’ fans are invariably arranged according to a regular principle. A medallion in the centre, of a Gypsy telling fortunes, the different cards, together with their significance, arranged in four rows over the general field of the fan, and at the top, or on the reverse, the explanation, or directions for telling fortunes. The ‘Gypsy Fan’ conforms to this rule so far as the medallion is concerned: in lieu, however, of the cards with their explanation we have a series of floral festoons, borders, etc., painted by hand. The fan ‘made by Clarke and Co., at their Warehouse, the King’s Arms, near Charing Cross, Strand, London. Inventors of the much esteemed sliding Pocket Fan.’[156]
The ‘Oracle’ has in the centre a wheel of fortune with two winged children on clouds, one of whom holds a scroll inscribed ‘Oracle.’ On the sides of the fan the names of the ten greater gods and goddesses, in ten columns, the names disposed differently in each. On the lower part of the fan the ‘Explication’ of the Oracle, and ‘examples’ together with the questions, as—‘Whether one is to get Riches; Whether one will be successful in Love; What sort of a Husband shall I have’; etc. etc. On the reverse are heads of the gods and goddesses with their attributes, with ten columns of inscriptions, each containing ten answers to questions.
Pub. accord. to Act, Jany. 1, 1800, by Ino. Cock, I. P. Crowder & Co., No. 21 Wood Street, Cheapside, London.
The ‘Wheel of Fortune, by which may be known most things that can be required,’ presents us with a variation of the foregoing. The wheel occupies the centre of the fan, with four female heads representing—1. Bath Gypsy. 2. Norwood Gypsy. 3. Corsican Gypsy. 4. York Gypsy. On the one side of the fan, ‘Phisiognomy,’ with directions how to read it; on the other, ‘Perilous Days,’ with a prognostication of the date and manner of death of Napoleon, viz., by suffocation or drowning, at the latter end of 1810 or beginning of 1812. J. Fleetwood, Sc., 48 Fetter Lane.
An interesting class of fans is that illustrating popular and fashionable resorts, entertainments, etc., as Bartholomew Fair, Bath, Ranelagh, Vauxhall Gardens, the Crescent at Buxton, etc.
Henry Morley, in his interesting Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair, has given us an amusing description of the fan sold in that annual saturnalia, where Henry Fielding once had an interest.
‘Here are drolls, hornpipe-dancing, and showing of postures;
Plum-porridge, black pudding, and opening of oysters:
The tap-house guests swearing, and gallery folks squalling,
With salt-boxes solus, and mouth-pieces bawling;
Pimps, pick-pockets, strollers, fat landladies, sailors,
Bawds, baileys, jilts, jockies, thieves, tumblers, and taylors.
Here’s Punch’s whole game of the gun-powder plot, sir,
Wild beasts all alive, and pease porridge hot, sir;
Fine sausages fried, and the black on the wire;
The whole court of France, and nice pig at the fire;
The ups-and-downs, who’ll take a seat in the chair-o,
There are more ups and downs than at Bartleme Fair-o.’
G. A. Stevens. 18th Cent.
The humours of the piece are mainly technical. Our Bartholomew artist, having his own views of perspective, has carefully economised the number of his figures and left out at discretion bodies or legs in the treatment of which he was embarrassed. Thus the leg of a drinking-stall serves also for the wooden leg of a bibulous person standing by. A man with, apparently, but one arm, salutes, in a manner at once distant and peculiar, an apple-woman, who lifts up her basket by the apples that are in it. Our artist, finding that the fourth stall of his machine ‘Ups and Downs’ would complicate his picture, has left it out altogether, and with a view also to artistic effect, has denied legs to the gentleman who is tasting his ale with so much relish, while the hot sausages (for these curious figures of eight are intended for sausages) grow cold upon his plate.
Pie Corner, with its delicate pig and pork, is depicted, with Sir Robert Walpole, orders and all, issuing from the shop.
The fan is engraved in mezzotint, the various subjects forming a very excellent mosaic of pattern: it was re-engraved and published by J. F. Setchel in 1829, and was accompanied by a description of the fair, in which the date of 1721 was assigned to the original. This and other inaccuracies being first pointed out by Henry Morley, who showed that the Droll of the siege of Bethulia, containing the ancient history of Judith and Holofernes, with the comical humours of Rustego and his man Terrible, said to be performing in Lee and Harper’s Booth, was not presented at that famous establishment until 1732.[157]
A version of the well-known print, after Canaletto, of the Rotunda, garden, and buildings at Ranelagh is given on a fan in the Schreiber collection, engraved by N. Parr, 1751.
A view of the Crescent at Buxton also appears enclosed in an oval medallion, with the inscription, ‘Crescent, Buxton.’
The following advertisements relative to these subjects appeared in the Craftsman:—
‘June 15, 1734.
‘Just Published. By Jonathan Pinchbeck, Fan Maker, etc.
(accurately delineated on a Fan Mount)‘The Humours of New Tunbridge Wells; being a Draught of the House, Gardens, Well, Walks, etc., with the different Airs, Gestures, and Behaviour of the Company, and all other rural Entertainments of the Place. Taken from the Life: by an eminent Hand.’
‘July 2, 1737.
‘This day is Published
‘The new Vaux Hall Fan; or the rural Harmony and delightful Pleasures of Vaux-Hall Gardens; with the different Air, Altitude, and Decorum of the Company that frequent that beautiful place; done to its utmost Beauty and Perfection.
‘Whereon is shewn the Walks, the Orchestra, the grand Pavillion, and the Organ, which far excels any Thing of the kind yet offer’d to the Publick.
‘Sold at Pinchbeck’s Fan Warehouse, etc.
‘Where may be had, The Dumb Oracle; and the Royal Repository, or Merlin’s Cave; and all sorts of Fans of the newest Fashion, wholesale or retail.’
| The Trial of Warren Hastings. | Mr. W. Burdett-Coutts. M.P. |
| The Parades of Bath, 1737. | Mr. W. Burdett-Coutts. M.P. |
In the interesting fan, giving, within a large cartouche, a view of the Parades, and Old Assembly Rooms at Bath, 1737, Beau Nash appears in the foreground in lilac coat, with a white hat under his arm,[158] addressing a bevy of fashionable ladies; at the sides are floral and diapered ornaments in the Chinese taste.
The example illustrated, which is coloured with extreme care, was acquired by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts at the Walker sale in 1882. This is the mount referred to by Pinchbeck in his advertisement of
‘June 3, 1738.
‘This day is Published on a Fan Mount (Fit for the Second Mourning or in colours) An accurate and lively Prospect of the celebrated Grove at Bath, whereon the rural Pleasures and exact Decorum of the company are curiously represented, with some cursory Observations on the Behaviour of Sundry Persons, particularly the famous B. N.
‘Likewise the rural Harmony and delightful Pleasures of Vaux-Hall Gardens. Also the Royal Repository, or Merlin’s Cave; being an exact Emblem of that beautiful Structure erected by the late Queen in the Royal Gardens at Richmond.
‘Sold wholesale or retail at Pinchbeck’s Fan Warehouse, etc., by Mr. Crowbrow, at the India House on the Walks: and at Mr. Dalassol’s and Mr. Weakstead’s Shops in the Grove at Bath.’
Two fans were published in June 1757 by G. Speren, giving a view of the interior of the Pump-Room at Bath, and the Orange Grove, with obelisk, garden, and buildings.
Lady Charlotte Schreiber quotes the following advertisement which appeared in the Craftsman during this year:—
‘This day is publish’d, by Jonathan Pinchbeck, Fan-maker, at the Fan and Crown in New Road-Court in the Strand, and sold by him Wholesale and Retail.
‘The Bath Medley; Being an accurate and curious Draught of the Pump Room at Bath, and most of the known Company who frequent it, adorn’d with the Portraitures of her Royal Highness the Princess Amelia[159] and other illustrious personages who honour’d the Place with their Presence the last Season; wherein the Topicks of Discourse and Conversations of Companies are impartially consider’d; their different Behaviours, Airs, Attitudes, etc., judiciously represented; the Foppery of the Beaus hinted at, and the Intrigues of the famous B— N— and others fully exploded. Taken from the Life, and finely delineated in above fifty Hieroglyphical figures.
‘N.B.—A spurious pyratical Copy of this Fan is lately publish’d, which is not like the Place it should represent, and may easily be discover’d from the Original by its having Pillars to support the Musick Gallery, and in the Middle is wrote The Bath Medley.’
The first Pump-Room was opened in 1706, with all the éclat of a public procession, and a musical fête, at which was sung a song specially composed in honour of King Bladud, the father of Lear, and mythical founder of Bath, recounting the story of his glorious deeds, and his soaring ambition, which, Icarus-like, finally overreached itself.[160]
The sequel to the story is to be found in the following quotation in Meehan, Famous Houses of Bath:—
‘Vex’d at the brutes alone possessing
What ought to be a common blessing:
He drove them thence in mighty wrath,
And built the stately town of Bath.
The Hogs, thus banished by the Prince,
Have liv’d in Bristol ever since!’
The Pump-Room illustrated on the fan was erected in 1732, and was, together with the Assembly-rooms, really the creation of Beau Nash, who persuaded one Thomas Harrison to build a room for dancing on the east side of the Grove, with access to the bowling-green, which then became known as Harrison’s Walks. To maintain his supremacy, Nash rented the Pump-Room from the corporation, and put it under the charge of an officer called the Pumper, and for a while induced Harrison to accept three guineas a week for the Assembly-rooms and candles.[161]
The Grove was re-named the Orange Grove by this same worthy, who erected the obelisk in the centre in commemoration of the visit of the Prince of Orange who came to Bath for the benefit of his health.
IN MEMORIAM
SANITATIS
PRINCIPI AURIACO
AQUARUM THERMALIUM POTU
FAVENTE DEO
OVANTE BRITANNIA
FELICITER RESTITUTAE
M.DCC.XXXIV.[162]
The exterior of the Rotunda, house, gardens, etc., at Ranelagh, is given on a fan mount in the Schreiber collection, this being a copy of a print entitled ‘Vue de l’Extérieur de la Rotonde. Maison & Jardins, etc., à Ranelagh. ‘Canaleti, delin.’ ‘N. Parr, sculpt.’ Published according to Act of Parliament. December 2, 1751.’
Opera fans give plans of the boxes at the Opera, with names of the occupants. An example in the Schreiber collection is inscribed: ‘New Opera Fan for 1797. W. Cock. Publish’d as the Act Directs for the Proprietor, by Permission of the Manager of the Opera House, 42 Pall Mall.’
The following advertisement appeared in the Times of January 1, 1788:—
‘The Opera Fans.
‘To the subscribers and frequenters of the King’s Theatre.‘Last Saturday were published according to Act of Parliament. The Delivery, however, was put off until the re-opening of the Opera House next week, for the purpose of presenting them in the best state of improvement.
‘These fans are calculated to present at one view both the number of boxes including the additional ones, names of subscribers, etc., and have been carefully compared with the plan of the House or kept at the office, and will be sold only by the proprietor, Mrs. H. M., No. 81 Haymarket, where she will receive with respectful gratitude any commands from the ladies and wait on them if required.’
A fan published on the same date, January 1, 1788, by Clarke and Co., appears in the Schreiber collection, and gives the plan of the King’s Theatre for 1788; the centre box bears the names of the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland and that of the Duke of York; the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert being in box sixty-three on the right.[163]
Fans illustrative of the ‘tender passion’ naturally form a large class, and may be divided into the following groups:—
1. Satirical and Amusing.
2. Pastoral, Social, and Fancy.
3. Subjects from Classic Mythology, as ‘The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche,’ ‘The Theft of Cupid’s Bow,’ ‘The Offering of Love,’ etc.
Maps of the affections were common both in this country and on the Continent, and are invariably designed on the principle of the Italian fan, ‘Il Paese del Matrimonio,’ referred to page 269.
The following advertisement appeared in the Craftsman for January 13, 1732-3:—
‘Daniel Chandler, Fan maker in the Strand over against Southampton St., who invented and sold the Lilliputian Fans,[164] and Variety of other pleasant Fans, is now provided with a Parcel of fashionable Fans, neatly mounted, representing the map of Tender, which may afford Entertainment both for Ladies and Gentlemen who are Tenderly inclined, and disposed to be agreeably merry.
‘These fans and Mounts are likewise sold by Michael Burnet, Fan maker, at the Hand and Fan, over against Friday St. in Cheapside.’
On the same date, Saturday, January 13, 1732-3, Pinchbeck announces the ‘Courting Fan Mounts.’
‘An Embleme of the Four different Stages of life finely delineated in seven hieroglyphical Figures. Being a lively representation of the Address of young Lovers, the Raptures of a new-married couple; the reciprocal Harmony of Antient wedded companions; and the abject, wretched state of an Old Maid. Illustrated with a Paraphrase, on each cut, which serves as a Key to the whole.
‘N.B.—At the abovesaid Place may be had all sorts of Fans and Fan-mounts of the newest Fashion, and at the lowest prices, wholesale or retail.’
On April 20, 1734, Pinchbeck advertises:
‘The Old Man’s Folly.—In this Fan is represented an old Miser, who at the age of Fourscore had the Vanity to court a young lady of Twenty; she despises his Addresses, and Cupid shoots Thunder at his Head: in this Dilemma, Bacchus invites him to a Banquet at the Nectarius Grove; whilst the Eye of Heaven shines propitious on the Raptures of a youthful couple.
‘Where may be had
‘The abject, wretched state of an Old Maid, and divers other curious Fans; the Designs taken from the best Masters.’
These two fans had been announced earlier by Pinchbeck on Jan. 15th of the same year, as follows:—
‘Just Published.... The Amours of an Old Batchellor, or the Downfall of Sir Limberham; likewise the four different Stages of Life; or the abject, wretched State of an Old Maid. To each of these Fans are prefix’d, Verses suitable to the Occasion, which explain the Design.’
M. Gamble, on August 11, 1739, advertises
‘A new Fan, wherein is delineated a Damsel bewailing the Loss of her Lover, who is represented as cast away in a Storm.
‘Where may also be had, a Fan lately publish’d entitled The Sailor’s Wedding, being made to the glorious and immortal Majesty of Queen Elizabeth.’
‘Before and after Marriage’ gives expression to an idea which also supplied a favourite motif for English and especially Staffordshire pottery. On a cream ware jug, with illustrations of courtship and matrimony, we have the following couplets expressive of the two contrasting conditions:—
‘In courtship Strephon careful hands his lass
Over a stile a child with ease might pass.’
.....
‘But wedded, Strephon now neglects his dame,
Tumble or not, to him ‘tis all the same.’
The fan leaf, published in Paris, but also issued in England, illustrates two scenes, in the former of which Cupid smiles approvingly: in the latter, Cupid in the background is overwhelmed with grief at this instance of Strephon’s indifference; above are inscriptions in French and Spanish: ‘La Complaisance de l’Amant ou Huit jours avant,’ and ‘L’indifférence du Mari ou Huit jours après.’ The fan etched from drawings by William Williams, a name which suggests an English origin of the idea.
| A Trip to Gretna. | Schreiber Colln, British Museum. |
| ‘Bartolozzi’ Fan. | Mrs Frank W. Gibson. (Eugenie Joachim.) |
A similar contrast is drawn in two fans published by J. Read, Feb. 20, and Nov. 1, 1795, 133 Pall Mall: ‘The Good Swain’ gives three oval medallions of ‘The Morning of Youth,’ ‘Mid-Day of Life,’ and ‘Chearful Evening of Old Age,’ each subject being provided with four lines of verse commencing with, ‘Unless with my Amanda blest.’
The ‘Good-for-nothing Swain’ gives ‘The Vow of Constancy,’ ‘The Hour of Infidelity,’ and ‘Cupid’s Farewell,’ the verses commencing, ‘With soothing Smiles he won my easy heart.’
Both fans bear the name of ‘G. Wilson,’ who appears on a number of fans of this period both as designer, engraver, and publisher, and evidently supplied designs, or stock, to other publishers.
Among the more successful humorous fans are those giving, in a series of medallions along the border of the fan, ‘A selection of Beau’s, Whimsical, Comical, and Eccentrical; or Candidates for the Ladies’ Favour’; and ‘The Ladies’ Bill of Fare, or a Copious Collection of Beaux.’ The various kinds of lovers are each provided with a suitable inscription above and below, as: ‘A Spark of some Conceit, Let me die if I don’t believe she thinks of me Night and Day,’ ‘A Man of high price, I am determined not to Marry any Woman under a Dutchess,’ etc. ‘The Merry Lover,’ and ‘I Live, Love, and Laugh,’ etc. In the centre of the fans, underneath a flying Cupid, are verses in further elucidation of the subject:
‘That simple thing—A woman’s Heart,
How oft ‘tis play’d upon;
What Beau’s oft cause its painful smart,
And triumph when they’ve done.’
‘Mark well our Motley Group above,
The little shun—the Honest love.’
and on ‘The Ladies’ Bill of Fare’:
‘To plague and please all womankind,
Here’s Gallants sure a plenty!—
Chuse then a Beau to suit your mind,
Or change ‘till one content ye.’
These fans are engraved in mixed line and stipple, the name ‘G. Wilson, delt.,’ appearing on the first mentioned, with ‘London, published May 25, 1795, by I. Read, No. 133 Pall Mall.’ On the latter, ‘Published as the Act directs by G. Wilson, 14 Feb. 1795, 108 St. Martin’s Lane.’
Other fans having reference to the affections, and issued by the same publisher, are: ‘The Progress of Love’ in the five stages of ‘Cupid Relieved’; ‘Amantha Rewarded’; ‘Pastime of Love’; ‘Altar of Hymen’; ‘Connubial Bliss’; ‘The Lady’s Adviser, Physician, and Moralist, or, Half-an-Hour’s Entertainment at the Expense of Nobody!’ and ‘The Quiz Club’—the latter giving twelve circular medallions of ridiculous characters round the border of the fan, with suitable descriptions underneath:
‘This young Spark is perfectly a man of Taste—dresses like a gentleman—swears like a Nabob, and believes the Ladies think him a clever fellow.’
..........
‘This Man (wonderful man he should be called) is a learned Ass. Speaks gramatically nice, looks very solemn, and expects ye Ladies to understand his consequence, happy are they who win his smiles.’
..........
‘A fit Man for a closet—give this gentleman retirement, he requires to bear Compy with none but invissibles—Gods, Goddesses, Genii, Fauns, Sylphs, Naiads, Dryads, & ye like.’
‘An unfit Man to be alone—one that his associates have nicknamed Bob Drowsy, he can find no amusement but in his tongue, & if he is left half an hour alone he falls asleep.’
In an oval medallion in the centre is the following:—
‘The Quiz Club.
Dedicated to all Beaus in Christendom.
By S. A., Professor of Physiognomy and Correction of the Heart.
Dear Madam, ask your loving Quiz
If here he ‘Spies his own Dear Phiz;
And if mark’d out some fault he find,
Like one or two which warp his mind,
Bid the defaulter hence amend
And be the Sexes honour’d friend.
‘Publish’d by Ashton & Co., No. 28 Little Britain, May 1st, 1797, & Enter’d at Stationers’ Hall.’
Trips to Gretna were among the earliest results of the abolition of Fleet marriages by Lord Hardwicke’s New Marriage Act of 1753, one of the most famous of these clandestine marriages being that of Richard Lovell Edgeworth ten years later. The fan illustrates, in six scenes, the progress of a love match from the first meeting, to a marriage at Gretna, and final forgiveness by the bride’s father—‘The First Impression,’ ‘Mutual Declaration,’ ‘The Refusal,’ ‘The Flight,’ ‘The Journey’s End,’ ‘The Reconciliation.’
This subject also formed a favourite motif for the Staffordshire potter of the period, who produced a number of groups characterised by that quaint humour which appears to be native to him. It will be observed that in the fan, as in the pottery figure groups, the popular idea of the ‘blacksmith’ is perpetuated. This popular notion, however, is thus disposed of by Jeaffreson, the historian of matrimony (Brides and Bridals): ‘There is no evidence that any one of the Gretna Green marriages was solemnised in a smithy, or that any one of the famous Gretna Green ‘couplers’ ever followed the smith’s calling. One of these so-called parsons had been a common soldier, another a tobacconist, a third a pedlar, and all of them drunkards and cheats, but no one of them ever shod a horse or wrought an iron bolt.’
The state of widowhood also supplies the motif of a number of fans, the subject usually taking the form of a woman in classical costume, mourning over an altar, urn, or tomb; the central figure-subject generally engraved in stipple, the landscape completed by hand. Several examples are in the Schreiber collection, the most successful being that signed ‘F. Burney, del.; H. Meyer, sculpt.’
In the third group, subjects from classic mythology, the prevailing method or decorative scheme is that of an engraved medallion, large or small, occupying the centre of the fan, to be enclosed in, or incorporated with, an ornamental setting painted by hand; the character and treatment of the subject representing that pretty, sentimental quasi-classicism which set in about the middle of the century, and which we associate with the names of Cipriani, Angelica Kauffmann, and the engraver Bartolozzi. A characteristic example is the design by G. B. Cipriani, R.A., of Orpheus and Eurydice emerging from Hades, their way being lighted by the torch of Cupid. The medallion is engraved in stipple, the field of the fan being completed by ornaments in black, grey, pale blue, and silver.
A variation of this decorative scheme has three medallions with arabesque ornamentation also engraved, the fan usually being sold uncoloured but occasionally tinted; an example being ‘The Power of Love’—a Cupid riding on the back of a lion, engraved by Bartolozzi from the antique gem by Protarchos at Florence, with two smaller medallions of Cupids. ‘Publish’d as the Act directs, March 1, 1780, by A. Poggi.’[165]
An interesting fan in the Wyatt collection is printed on chicken skin, with an almanac in Spanish, decorated with the signs of the Zodiac in circles, and borders of fruit, flowers, etc., coloured and gilt. The stick and guards of pierced and carved ivory, painted.
A class of fan popular both in France and England, during the middle and latter half of the eighteenth century, has a medallion subject or series of subjects superimposed upon a streamer of lace; this last
being carefully engraved and coloured, the subjects painted, often with great elaboration. An excellent French example occurs in the Wyatt collection, with a cartouche enclosing a battle-piece, flowers, and insects introduced amongst the lace; the stick mother-of-pearl, gilt and silvered, with ‘gold-fish’ inlay; the whole colour effect extremely fine.
Printed fans were by no means confined to France and England, although it is in these countries that the practice obtained most extensively; fans were issued in Germany giving portraits of the Emperor Leopold II. and his wife, Maria Louisa of Spain, and their family; of Frederick II., who is represented as in Elysium, having just embarked from Charon’s boat; of Frederick William III. and Queen Louise of Prussia, and of Madame Royale, in allusion to her release in 1795 and her subsequent arrival in Vienna. The famous engraver Chodowiecki also produced several fans, prints of which occur in the Berlin Museum.
Two Italian examples may be referred to. The subject known as grotesque animals was obviously executed as a central subject, the field of the fan to be completed by hand. It is an extraordinarily skilful engraving of a number of animals playing different antics. In the centre is a monkey in cocked-hat and feather, extracting with a pair of forceps a tooth from a fowl who is laying an egg the meanwhile. Sympathetic birds are perched around, and a squirrel is in attendance with a glass of refreshment on a tray. The design is made up of similar grotesque incidents—as a dog with a pair of tongs over his shoulder, returning from a rat-catching expedition; a porcupine reading a book with the aid of a magnifying glass; a fox with two young foxes riding on the back of a fish which is duly provided with a huge pair of spectacles, etc. etc. The humours of the piece are too many to be described in detail. No publisher’s or artist’s name appear. The extreme length is nine inches.
In the subject ‘Il Paese del Matrimonio,’ the centre of the fan is occupied by a Cupid standing in a boat, saying: ‘Andiamo, chi viene al paese del matrimonio,’ and ‘Venite, signorine, Ciascana delle vostre madri falto prima di voi questo viaggio. La mia barca è della più leggiere, se non vi condurre a buon porto non mi pagherete.’ On either side are maps of two imaginary countries—Terra del celibato and Paesi del matrimonio, with pictorial representations of the various places. The former apparently is the country of tranquillity; on it are figured the Tempio della pace, the Fontana della quiete, the Città dell’ independenza, the Paradiso terrestre.
The country of matrimony is approached by the Golfo del Rimprovero which lies between the Capo della dissimulazione and the Rupe della gelosia. In this country are discovered the Città d’isagiosa; the Tempio della discordia, shown as falling to pieces with a volcano hard by; the montagna dell’ infedeltà, from which springs a stream emptying itself into the Lago dell’ indifferenza. On the farther side of this country of unrest lies the Golfo della luna di miele.
Of the processes of engraved fans, the most usual is that of etching, often finished (sweetened is the technical term) by means of the graver or burin. Pure line-engraving is frequently employed, although most line-engravers make use of the etched line as a foundation for subsequent work with the burin. Etching is occasionally supplemented by stipple-engraving and the free use of the roulette. Many fans are painted in a brownish black ink with the flesh-tints in red; in others several colours are introduced, thus anticipating the modern process of coloured etching. This latter is practically a system of painting upon the plate in colours, and can scarcely be considered as a legitimate process, although the result in modern coloured etching is often interesting, and in some instances even admirable. Aquatint was also employed, especially during the earlier years of the nineteenth century, on a number of fan leaves illustrating the Peninsular War. Many of these were produced in London by Behrmann and Collman, for the Spanish market, with inscriptions in Spanish. Portraits of the Duke of Wellington were also popular.
After the introduction of lithography many fans were produced by means of this process, invented by Aloys Senefelder of Munich about 1798; all lithographed fans must therefore be of a subsequent date to this.
This process was employed as a groundwork for subsequent painting, often carried to a high pitch of finish, so much so, that it is difficult for any but a practical eye to detect the lithographic foundation. Examples of these fans, which include a great variety of subjects, appear in most collections.
Lithography has been employed during the whole of the nineteenth century for the decoration of fans, and is largely in use at the present time.
DOUBLE HIDE FAN
(Taken from the King’s Palace at Benin, 1897. Horniman Museum, Forest Hill.)