Old English and French fans are both scarce and costly; in 1865 a collection of old French fans, painted by Boucher and Watteau, was sold by Messrs. Foster at prices varying from £6 to £30 each; the set of fourteen fans fetching as much as £195. Recently, three old French fans were sold by Messrs. Christie and Manson for the large sum of 55 guineas.
An Exhibition of Fans on loan took place at the South Kensington Museum in May, 1870, a collection both curious and interesting; the objects of the promoters being to encourage a taste for fans of elegant and artistic designs, and to promote the employment of female artists in their manufacture. Much has been done by Mr. Cole and his able co-adjutors to foster a correct taste, and enable those who follow Art, as a means of livelihood, to obtain true artistic instruction. The number of fans in the collection consisted of over five hundred, many being works of high Art; and it was astonishing to see what little effect time had had on these little frail and perishable articles of luxury.
Her Majesty the Queen, the Empress of the French, the Comtesse de Chambrun, and Lady Wyatt, alone contributed over one hundred and fifty, all of exquisite design and workmanship.
Mr. Samuel Redgrave, in his Introduction to the Catalogue, says, “The present Exhibition is part of the scheme of the Department of Science and Art for the Art Instruction of Women. To promote this object, the Department offered prizes in competition for fans painted by the students in the Female Schools of Art in 1868, and again in 1869.” Her Majesty the Queen, the Baroness Meyer de Rothschild, Lady Cornelia Guest, and the Society of Arts also offered prizes for competition at the International Exhibition of the present year (1871), which have produced many designs of great merit.
The use of the fan has been traced back to very ancient times. They are evidently of Eastern origin, and are absolutely necessary in the East, to temper in some degree the fierce heat of the sun. But from tropical regions they found their way at an early date into Europe, and were in use at Rome at least as early as the second century before Christ, when they are mentioned by Terence in one of his comedies. One of the oldest fans preserved to the present day is that of Theodelinda, a queen of Lombardy, who lived in the latter part of the sixth century. It is preserved at Monza, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Lombardy, and is made of purple vellum, embellished with gold and silver.
The fan has served a variety of purposes besides its natural use of producing a cool breeze. Spanish ladies, who are accustomed to attend bull-fights, carry with them fans containing a programme of the entertainment, and adorned with portraits both of the bulls and the fighters. In Japan they serve many uses, from being a rod in the hands of the schoolmaster, to a receptacle for alms in those of the beggar. The fan has been largely used, too, in religious ceremonies. In the middle ages it was customary to wave a fan over the elements of the Sacrament. Fans of this description were attached to long handles, often elaborately worked in gold and silver. On great occasions, when the Pope is carried in state through the streets of Rome, he is preceded by large fans made of peacock feathers, and said to be copies of ancient fans used in the temple of Jupiter. And in the Greek Church, when a deacon is ordained, a fan is given to him, part of his duty being to keep off flies and other insects from the superior priests when celebrating the Sacrament. The custom is carried out in all parts of Russia, though, as has been observed, the office must, in that climate, be a sinecure, at least for great part of the year.
In the middle ages, fans were made of feathers, and their chief ornamentation was in the handles, which were made of gold, silver, or ivory, and often set with precious stones. The beautiful wife of Rubens is represented in portraiture as carrying in her hand a single feather.
The French have long been famous for their fans, and the manufacture was introduced so early, that a company of fan-workers was established at Paris in the sixteenth century. In 1683, Louis XIV. formed them into a special guild. In his and the two following reigns, fans were of such universal use that no toilet was considered complete without one. They were made of perfumed leather or paper, and decorated by Watteau, Boucher, and other artists, the handle being often elaborately carved and adorned with jewels. At the present day, the making of fans is an important branch of industry at Paris to the extent of £100,000 yearly; one manufacturer employing, it is said, upwards of two thousand hands, some of his fans being most tastefully decorated by the best artists in Paris, the price of a single fan reaching as high a sum as £1000.
The fan was probably introduced into England early in the sixteenth century. Stow indeed says that “masks, muffs, fans, and false hair for women were devised in Italy, and brought to England from France in 1572, that being the year of the Huguenot massacre, and of the supremacy in France of Catherine de Medici and her Italian followers.” Fans were, however, in use at least as early as the reign of Henry VIII., when they were carried by young gentlemen, sometimes on horseback. When ladies walked out, their fans were carried by servants. They consisted of a tuft of feathers set on the end of a handle or stick, and had much the appearance of powder puffs. The most costly were of ostrich feathers, and looking-glasses were often placed in the broad part above the handle, which was elaborately decorated.
The fan was received into great favour by Queen Elizabeth, who, notwithstanding her great ability in managing the affairs of the State, and her haughty and imperious temper, was singularly susceptible to flattery, and bestowed great care on her personal adornment. Many instances are on record of her courtiers trying to ingratiate themselves with her by the present of a fan. Amongst them the great sailor, Sir Francis Drake, gave her a fan of white and red feathers, with a gold handle embellished with pearls and diamonds. Her favourite, the Earl of Leicester, also presented her with a fan. It was made of white feathers with a gold handle set with pearls, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds, and a device of “a lion ramping, with a white bear muzzled at his foot,” in token of his own complete subjection to his royal mistress, his cognizance being a bear. At Elizabeth’s death, her wardrobe was found to contain an immense quantity of clothing and finery of all descriptions, including as many as twenty-seven fans.