| Autograph Fan Japanese. | Mr Frank Brangwyn A.R.A. |
Autograph and inscription fans, which have, during the last two or three decades become popular with the few fortunate ladies who are happy in the possession of a circle of artistic friends, are but a revival of an old-world fashion. We have referred, early in this work, to the custom of poetic inscription which prevailed in China during the Liang dynasty, and to the love-sick lady Pan, of the Han dynasty, who adopted this by way of giving expression to her unrequited love. M. Achille Poussielgue, Voyage en Chine de M. et Mme Bourboulon, says: ‘There are fans of two kinds, open and folding. The former are made of a sheet of ivory or paper, and are used as autograph albums; and it is upon the surface of these white fans that a Chinaman begs his friend to leave a sentence, a drawing, or some characters, by way of recalling the absent to his memory. These album fans, to which great or noted men affix their seals, become of great value.’ ‘In the romance, Ping-chan-ling yen, a eunuch attached to the Emperor’s household, Lieou by name, begs Chân-Tai, the noble daughter of Chân-hien-jin, to honour him by writing on a fan with her own fair hand. “My sole desire,” he says, “is to possess a fan ornamented with your verses.”’ Some of these autograph fans from the Negroni collection were sold in London about 1866, after the Chinese war, and are said to have reached the extraordinary figure of £900 apiece.
In Japan, also, a charming device for the entertainment of the guests at artistic social gatherings consisted in each member of the company making little sketches expressive of some dainty fancy, or historic incident, on fans. These were passed round, exchanged, and carried away as souvenirs of a friendly and interesting occasion.
It was a happy inspiration of the late Lady Alma Tadema to revive the autograph fan in the form of sign manuals of famous artists and musicians.
The fan consists of twenty-six blades of plain wood on which appear the signatures of such famous painters as Bastien-Lepage, Joseph Israels, Du Maurier, Legros, accompanied in most instances by characteristic sketches; and of such musical executants as Charles Hallé, with, in several instances, the addition of a few bars of music. The sketches are dated 1879.
The fan of Mrs. Arthur Lewis is a development of the same idea. This has nineteen blades, and the space between the rounded edge and the connecting ribbon is utilised for sketches by Orchardson, Colin Hunter, Pettie, Millais, Leslie, Alma Tadema, Du Maurier, Phil Morris, Ansdell, J. C. Hook, Frank Dicksee, Goodall, Herkomer, Fildes, Marks, Boughton, and Adrian Stokes. The outer blades are ornamented by arabesques enclosing the monogram of the owner, a laurel wreath, and painter’s palettes. The dates recorded are 1880-84.
The popularity on the Continent of this form of autograph fan is evidenced by the fact that three examples were shown at Karlsruhe in 1891 from the collection of Herr Conrad Dreher of Munich. These included the work of such well-known German artists as Ernst Zimmermann, Franz Stuck, Lenbach, Holmberg, Löwith, Diez, Hermann Kaulbach, and others.
At Karlsruhe, also, was shown an autograph fan belonging to the Baroness Friederichsy, on which were the signatures of all the diplomatists who attended the Berlin Congress. Countess Onola possesses a similar fan, with the autographs of the royal family and the more distinguished personages of the Berlin Court, including Prince Bismarck and Count Moltke.
Mrs. Joachim-Gibson has a ‘Wagner’ fan, with printed portrait of the master, views of the Wagner theatre and of Bayreuth, and, on the reverse, autographs of famous Wagner singers.