Vintage hand-held French and English lady's fans

Fans were first used in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Many of the more intricate ones carried concealed knives or stilettos, as it was often dangerous to walk alone after nightfall or in a dark alley, especially in Renaissance Italy. Fans were of course functional, serving to keep off flies, shield one from the heat of a fire, or create a current of fresh air. Gradually, fans became an almost essential accessory for the fashionable, and no skill or expense was spared in their design and manufacture.

At the beginning of the 19th century, fans were considered an indispensable dress accessory for ladies attending balls and other functions. Three major types of fan were in use at that time.

Folding fans, the most common, consisted of leaves mounted on sticks which were joined at the foot. Paper was used in the cheaper fans, but parchment, made from the skin more... of young turkeys or silk were preferred in the more expensive varieties. The leaves were richly gilded and painted, often with Neo-classical motifs and scenery spreading across the leaves, so that they presented a panoramic effect when the fan was fully-extended. Some were made of lace, allowing the lacemakers of France, Brussels and Nottingham to display their skills, The ribs and guards were made of exotic woods or ivory, embellished with tortoiseshell, silver or gold mountings. Mother-of-pearl and boulle inlays were fashionable, and semi-precious stones and pearls were also favoured, especially in fans decorated in the Art Nouveau style.

The brise fan, in which the leaves were replaced by broad-bladed sticks held in place by a ribbon threaded through slots at the broad end, was also popular at this time, and the broader surface of the sticks afforded greater scope for Art Nouveau decoration.

The fashion for all things oriental included Japonaiserie open fans with broad leaves of parchment painted in oriental styles.

Because of their fragile nature, fans are often damaged: the fabric or other material has started to rot, the tassels are missing, or the ivory or shell is cracked. less...