| Dido & Æneas. (reverse) | Mrs Bischoffsheim. |
The marriage of the dauphin with Maria Theresa of Spain (1745), or his second wife, Princess Maria Josephe de Saxe, is recorded on a magnificent mount representing the interior of a chapel, with the bride and bridegroom on a raised dais, a cardinal performing the ceremony. These three fans appeared in the Walker sale of 1882.
The Battoir fan (illustrated facing p. 154) would appear to refer to this Spanish marriage; it is certainly a marriage fan. The feuille of paper is decorated with eight variously shaped medallions. In the centre the bride, who bears a sufficient resemblance to the engraved portraits of Maria Theresa, is taking tea; also a heart-shaped composition with two figures kneeling at the altar of Love, Father Time in the distance; a lover offering a bouquet to a lady, etc. The admirably designed stick and guards are of ivory, carved and gilt, decorated with emblematic figures, amorini, trophies of musical instruments, etc., bearing the fleurs de lys of France and the arms of Spain.
The magnificent fan in the possession of Mrs. Bischoffsheim reflects the general interest taken in the classics during the earlier part of the eighteenth century. Dryden’s English translation of Virgil was given to the world in 1697, and the Latin edition of P. Masvicius, Leovardiae, 1717, contained the commentaries of Servius, Philargyrius, and Pierius. The fan belongs to the earlier years of the reign of Louis XV., and illustrates the story unfolded in the first book of the Æneid. On the reverse the storm raised by Æolus at the bidding of Juno, a rock in the foreground being inscribed ‘Naufrage d’Énée’: and the meeting of Venus and Æneas. On the obverse the banquet:
‘Embroidered coverlets
Are laid, and gorgeous purple; and the boards
Groan with the massive silver.’
The love-god, in the guise of the boy Ascanius, is presented to Dido:
He—after he has clasped Æneas’ neck