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Folding fan: M.155-1985

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 34 (Fan Gallery)

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Folding fan, double paper leaf painted in watercolours and body colour. Sticks of cut and painted ivory pierced with applications of straw; guards of carved, pierced, cut and painted ivory with mother-of-pearl backing and applications of straw (20+2) Rivet of iron and washer of mother-of-pearl. The front has five scenes in cartouches, the back has one scene.

Folding fan, double paper leaf painted in watercolours and body colour. Sticks of cut and painted ivory pierced with applications of straw; guards of carved, pierced, cut and painted ivory with mother-of-pearl backing and applications of straw (20+2) Rivet of iron and washer of mother-of-pearl. Front: five scenes in cartouches bordered by scrolling gold frames on a pale blue background with sprays of roses and blue and pink stripes. The central scene has two women, one sitting, the other standing holding a hulot and a man kneeling on the right in front of a basket of flowers; in the background is an urn on a pedestal, trees and bushes, people and a building on the left, water and buildings on the right. In the extreme left cartouche is a shepherd sitting under a tree with a woman, his dog, a flock of sheep and a building to the left. The next cartouche shows a woman sitting on a bank under trees, a standing man, a man in a small boat and two houses in the background. In the cartouche on the extreme right, a woman is sitting in front of a drape hanging on a tree and a shepherd who is offering her a lamb; in the background a village and people working in a field and fishing. In the last cartouche, a shepherd, with his dog, is sitting on a bank playing a pipe; in the background two people in a boat and a village can be seen. The top is edged with gold paper, the left border painted with a gold line. Back: One scene with a woman sitting in front of a group of trees in the centre and a man playing the bagpipes, two women sitting on the ground with a basket of flowers; in the background one can see houses and trees. Sticks: there are two different designs placed in pairs. One design has a rectangular plate with applied square straw pieces flanked by blue, brown and gold dotted S-shapes. Two sticks of the other design form a flower flanked by the same wavy ornaments. Reverse undecorated. Guards: Both guards are decorated in a similar way. The head has raindrop-shaped pierced holes, which, together with the pierced holes in the stick, form a window when the fan is closed. The guard proper has diagonal stripes of applied straw squares alternating with flowers, a bagpipe and foliage.

Notes

History note: Colonel Leonard C. Messel (1872-1953); his daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse (1902-1992)

Legal notes

Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and a gift from The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1985-01-28) by Countess of Rosse, Anne

Dating

18th Century, third quarter#
Circa 1760 CE - Circa 1770 CE

Note

European, possibly German

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Leaf composed of paper bodycolour watercolours
Rivet composed of iron
Guards+washer composed of mother-of-pearl
Sticks+guards composed of ivory
Guards Length 26.0 cm

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.155-1985
Primary reference Number: 117740
Old catalogue number: DR 27/346
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 25 February 2020 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Folding fan" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/117740 Accessed: 2024-03-29 15:45:57

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/117740 |title=Folding fan |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 15:45:57|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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