Folding fan with a rope dancer: M.29-2015

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Allocated (2015-04-27) by H.M. Government

Dating

19th Century
Circa 1790 - Circa 1800

Note

This fan forms part of the collection of the Hon. Christopher Lennox Boyd, allocated to the Museum by H.M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax in 2015. The collection of over 600 fans ranges in date from the 18th to the 20th centuries and in type from bejewelled and hand-painted court and wedding fans, to printed mass-produced advertising fans, aide-memoire fans, mourning fans and children’s fans.

This fan would have been particularly effective during evening events, when the sequins would have glittered to dazzling effect in candlelight, gaslight or moonlight. It may have been used at the theatre where rope-dancers performed alongside ladder-dancers, tumblers, strong men, and musicians. Fans of this kind were fashionable during the last decade of the 18th century, and were revived a century later, often using a heavier gauze.

School or Style

French