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Folding fan: M.279-1985

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Folding, cabriolet, fan; double paper leaf painted in bodycolour. Sticks of pierced and painted bone; guards of carved and painted bone (20+2). Rivet set with clear pastes. Front: Two military scenes. The broader band, on top, has two soldiers sitting in front of a tent behind drums; one is standing with a spear in a boat on the river that cuts off a castle in the background. In the central background there is a sailing boat; on the right there is a soldier in a boat and a dark wall; on the left a soldier is standing next to a woman in front of a house smoking a pipe. The narrower band shows a soldier in a tent, flanked by trees and water. Both bands are bordered by flowers and slightly scrolling leaves, and have gold edgings. Back: on both bands there are scenes of a building on a small island with trees, surrounded by water; the borders are of flowers and leaves. Sticks: between the leaves, each stick has a lozenge surrounded by four circles. The lower part of the sticks is decorated with loose sprays of flowers. Back: undecorated. Guards: the front guard is decorated with blue and pink slightly scrolling leaves, flowers and fruit on the top and the background has pink leaves and fruit in the middle as well as on top.

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, Mid
Circa 1750 - Circa 1760

Note

Double paper leaf painted in body colour with military scenes, and on the reverse with an island in a lake. Sticks of pierced and painted bone. Guards of carved and painted bone. The rivet set with clear pastes. Cabriolet fans derive their name from a light two-wheeled carriage introduced by Joshua Child in 1755. The fans have two or three pleated leaves mounted above one another with spaces between them so that the sticks are visible. Strictly speaking there should be an image of a cabriolet on one of the leaves but the term is applied to all fans of this form. The military subject on this example is unusual.

Possibly German, Dutch or Danish, certainly from Northwest Europe

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Leaf composed of paper bodycolour
Sticks+guards composed of bone
Guards Length 26.9 cm
Sticks

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: written in pencil

  • Text: 100
  • Location: Back guard
  • Method of creation: Writing
  • Type: Number

Inscription present: inscribed in ink

  • Text: W10
  • Location: First stick
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Number

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.279-1985
Primary reference Number: 117864
Old catalogue number: DR 26/341
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 28 February 2022 Last processed: Friday 8 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/117864 Accessed: 2024-11-25 07:14:23

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/117864 |title=Folding fan |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-25 07:14:23|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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