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.