In 1859 an event occurred of the most fateful interest for the fan, M. Alphonse Baude of Sainte-Geneviève (Oise) having invented his system of cutting and carving the sticks à jour by machinery! Let us understand clearly what this means to us. Nature, ever bounteous, provides us gratis, without any patent dues, with an instrument—the human hand—the most exquisitely delicate and complicated machine known to us; this instrument is directed by a force—the human mind—still more subtle, if possible, in the delicacy of its operations. In place of this, M. Alphonse Baude, in his wisdom, offers us his conglomeration of wheels, axles, metal bolts, and screws! The intelligent fan-lover will therefore note this date, and carefully examine any fan sticks made subsequent to it.
Fans, however, have been made from time to time having reasonable claims to the possession of artistic qualities. M. Rondot mentions a fan carved in mother-of-pearl and signed by Camille Roqueplan for Duvelleroy, that sold for 1000 francs. A Danish sculptor, M. S. G. Schwartz of Copenhagen, exhibited at Paris in 1867 an ivory fan carved with reliefs of the Seasons after Thorwaldsen; a most beautiful work.
Another brisé fan, finely pierced and carved, presented by the ladies of Copenhagen to H.R.H. the Princess of Wales (Queen Alexandra) on the occasion of her marriage in 1863, gives five circular medallions, the centre having the initials A. A. surmounted by the crown, the other four of classical subjects. Underneath, a processional group of Apollo in his chariot, the Graces and the Muses; above, a border of Cupids holding wreaths of flowers; the guards richly embossed in gold, with foliage, flowers, etc., in high relief. The above instances, as well as others that might be named, are exceptional; there can be no possibility of doubt that while the leaves of fans, upon occasion, due to the fact of artists of high calibre having essayed the fan, present some advance, the work of the stick, during the whole of the nineteenth century, exhibits a serious falling off from that of the preceding epochs. This unsatisfactory state of things can only be remedied by a general advance in public taste, by the creation of a demand for the higher class fans, and by individual artists of approved skill turning their attention to this class of work.
During the latter half of the nineteenth century, three prominent éventaillistes of Paris, MM. Duvelleroy, Alexandre, and Aloys van de Voorde, have made most strenuous efforts to revive interest in the higher class of fans, and have exhibited work by such distinguished painters as Gavarni, Colin, Hamon, Philippe, Rousseau, Karl Müller, Diaz, Eugène Lami, Glaize, Compte-Calix, Couture, Corot, Wattier, Soldé, Garnier, Mme de Girardin: and such well-known sculptors as Jean Feuchère, Klagmann, Jacquemart, Riester, the brothers Fannière, Eugène Berger, Bastard, Lanoy, Vaillant, and others.
| Lace Mount presented by the Earl of Crewe to H.R.H. Princess Mary on her marriage. | Youghal Co-operative Lace Society. |
| An Entomologist painted by J.L. Hamon, stick by G. Rembert. | The Countess Granville. |
Of the work of Gavarni we have unfortunately no example illustrated; a fan by him appeared at South Kensington in 1870, exhibited by the Comtesse de Nadaillac. Of other fans enlivened by his light and humorous touch, two, says Blondel, have become famous: the first was commissioned by Duvelleroy for Queen Victoria: the second, estimated of perhaps greater value, formed part of the Empress Eugénie’s rich collection. Mirecourt, in his biography of Gavarni, tells the following anecdote. Upon an occasion of the contents of his fine portfolios being praised, he cried, ‘Allons donc! in drawing I have never done but one thing passable; it is a fan for the Empress.’