Charmer vôtre langueur;
Que faittes vous seulette
Assis dessus l’herbette
Votre ame est inquiette.
Qui peut Causer votre langueur
Au son de ma muset-te
Je voudrois bien Liset-te.’
A pictorial rebus (referring to ‘l’éventail magnifique’), a game board, a harlequin, and a billet-doux (N’oubliez pas le porteur) complete the composition; the whole being an instance of the Parisian’s insatiable love of badinage. Printed in Paris in 1734.
In Le bal des Nations, the several countries are figured as pretty women at a costume ball; this representing the fan’s comment on the declaration of war with the Emperor Charles VI. Each of the actors of the piece delivers a song, the words of which are printed round the top of the fan. La France sings: