There was an echo in England. An illustration of the event forms the centre subject of a fan in the Schreiber collection. On the left, Biaggini’s Air Balloon is about to ascend; and on the right, The Fall of ye Balloon, the confused mass being viewed with curiosity by three rustics.
In the following March, M. Blanchard made his ascent in his balloon with four rudders; the event duly recorded on a fan inscribed ‘La Phisico Mécanique Ou le Vaisseau Volant de Mr. Blanchard.’ The song of four stanzas, ‘Oh parbleu voici du plaisant. Vive la Phisique,’ etc.
| Taking of the Bastille, 1789. | Schreiber Colln British Museum. |
| Duc d’Orleans. | Miss Moss. |
There were painted as well as engraved balloon-fans—with a centre medallion of two fair damsels viewing ‘sa forme circulaire,’ a smaller medallion of a balloon on either side, the field of the fan in the glitter of stars, spangles, and dotted ornaments.
Thus Carlyle, with his characteristic double entente, philosophising on these events: ‘Beautiful invention; mounting heavenward, so beautifully,—so unguidably! Emblem of much, and of our Age of Hope itself; which shall mount, specifically-light, majestically in this same manner; and hover,—tumbling whither Fate will. Well if it do not, Pilâtre-like, explode; and demount all the more tragically!—So, riding on windbags, will men scale the Empyrean.’
The comments of the Parisian wits were of a different order to the caustic satire of Carlyle: in the engraving by Sargent, which appeared in all the glory of printed colour, a learned but absent-minded physicist, instead of inflating his silken globes, inflates himself with the result that he disappeared through the window. ‘Mon pauvre oncle,’ exclaims a young man who exhibits the extreme of grief and despair. A fan leaf ‘à l’oncle’ appears in the Bibliothèque Nationale, having been removed from a mount. Wright, Caricature History of the Georges, note, p. 545, says: ‘The ascents in France during the year 1784 were very numerous, and excited interest even in England.’
Horace Walpole, writing from London on May 7 of the following year, says: ‘Of conversation, the chief topic is air-balloons; a French girl, daughter of a dancer, has made a voyage into the clouds, and was in danger of falling to earth, and being ship wrecked. Three more balloons sail to-day; in short, we shall have a prodigious navy in the air, and then what signifies having lost the empire of the ocean?’
Beaumarchais’ comedy, Le Mariage de Figaro, upon its production in Paris in 1784, immediately became the rage, and enjoyed its successful run of a ‘hundred nights.’ Its story supplied the ‘book’ for Mozart’s opera, which had been ‘commanded’ by the Emperor (Joseph II.) of Germany. This work, first produced in Vienna at the time when Italian opposition to German opera as represented by Gluck and Mozart waxed fiercest, failed, being so indifferently performed under the direction of Salieri, the head of the opposing faction. At Prague, however, where it was subsequently given, and which was outside the influence of Salieri, it was completely successful, a circumstance which afforded Mozart so much satisfaction that he declared that he would write an opera for the good people of Prague, and thereupon produced Don Giovanni!
While the Italian opposition to Mozart’s music was so pronounced, the feeling of antagonism was by no means reciprocated by the great Salzburg composer, who wrote a number of variations to airs by Sarti, Paisiello, and Salieri. The beautiful series of variations on the air ‘Mio Caro Adone’ from Salieri’s opera, La fiera ai Venezia, was composed in 1773, the opera appearing in Vienna a year previously.
Two Figaro fans appear in the Schreiber collection, British Museum, the one with a single medallion in the centre, with scene from the play, and four stanzas of verse commencing ‘Jadis on voioit Thalie,’ etc.; the other with a centre medallion and two smaller ones, and thirteen stanzas of verse commencing ‘Cœurs sensibles, cœurs fidelles,’ etc., with music. Inscribed at the top—‘Vaudeville du Mariage de Figaro.’ Beaumarchais collaborated with Salieri in the opera of Tarare, first produced in Paris in 1787. He claimed to have led the way to the Revolution by this piece, which formed the subject of several fans.
Three scenes from Grétry’s opera of Richard, Cœur de Lion, first produced in 1784, and performed the following year before the king and queen at Fontainebleau, appear on a fan, the costumes being of the period of the production of the opera, the ladies wearing the hooped petticoat, with long streamers from their heads. On the reverse, two songs commencing ‘Que le Sultan Saladin,’ and ‘La Danse n’est pas ce que j’aime.’ The song ‘O Richard, O mon Roi, l’univers t’abandonne,’ which, however, does not appear on the fan, became of historic importance at Versailles, October 1, 1789.
Other operatic fans commemorate ‘Nina ou la Folle par Amour’ and ‘Raoul de Créqui’ by Dalayrac, produced in 1786 and 1789 respectively. The first named has a single scene with four figures in the centre of the fan, and verses headed ‘Romance de Nina, Chantée par Mme. Dugazon.’ The second much more elaborate, with one large and two smaller panels, verses and music from the opera on the back of the fan.
Three scenes from Dezède’s Alcidor, produced 1787, commemorate an opera of which both composer and music are now forgotten. The decorations are etched and rudely coloured by hand; the sticks walnut, inlaid with ivory.
Three hand-screens appeared with a scene from the first, second, and third acts respectively of Fanchon La Vielleuse, a French version of Himmel and Kotzebue’s operetta, Fanchon, das Leyermädchen, produced at Berlin in 1805. These testify to the transient popularity of a now almost forgotten composer. The screens are of cardboard, coloured grey-brown, shield-shaped, having an oval medallion engraved in line and coloured by hand. On the reverse, extracts from the libretto.
Of plays we have an illustration of a scene from Voltaire’s tragedy of Brutus, first produced in Paris in 1730, and revived in 1790, the names of the several characters inscribed below the figures.
On another fan, three scenes from Chénier’s play of Charles IX. ou l’École des Rois, which appeared in Paris in 1789. On the reverse, a long quotation from the second scene of the third act.
An adventure of Philippe-Égalité, Duc d’Orléans, provided the subject of several fans. The story is related at length upon a fan which shows the interior of a cottage where the Duke, during a walk near Bency, in January 1786, had stopped to ask for a breakfast. The peasant’s wife was at the point of childbirth, and was actually delivered whilst the unknown prince ‘que la France admire’ ate his frugal meal of bread and cheese. With his natural bonhomie he proposed himself as godfather, and only at the signing of the register he disclosed his identity by exhibiting his ‘cordon-bleu.’
A fan in the Schreiber collection shows the interior of a parish church, with the prince standing as sponsor. The inscription, ‘Couplets dédiés à S.A.S. Monseigneur le Duc d’Orléans.’
The assembly of notables is duly recorded. We see majesty enthroned with a royal prince on either side; Monsieur de Calonne reads his speech, a clerk seated at the table. Inscribed at the top of the fan, ‘L’Assemblée des Notables commencée le 22 Février 1787.’ On the reverse, the king’s oration, with the extract from that of Monsieur Calonne, together with a song entitled ‘Ronde Joieuse à l’Occasion de l’Assemblée des Notables.’136
Carlyle thus refers to the popular comments upon this event:—‘The gaping populace gapes over Wood-cuts or Copper-cuts; where, for example, a Rustic is represented convoking the Poultry of his barnyard, with this opening address: “Dear animals, I have assembled you to advise me what sauce I shall dress you with”; to which a Cock responding, “We don’t want to be eaten,” is checked by “You wander from the point (Vous vous écartez de la question).” Laughter and logic; ballad-singer, pamphleteer; epigram and caricature: what wind of public opinion is this—as if the Cave of the Winds were bursting loose!’
Of the events which immediately preceded and culminated in that of the 14th July, the fan says little, except in reference to that dread disease ‘consumption of the purse.’ The people have their States-General—the king is represented as leaning upon a bust of Necker, and holding a cornucopia from which issues gold; inscribed above, ‘L’Heureuse Union des trois États Généraux sous le bon plaisir de Louis Auguste XVI. par les soins de Mr. Necker en 1789.’
On another fan (brisé) the three orders of clergé, noblesse, and Tiers État appear represented by single figures in medallions.
Of two fans having reference to the enforcement of public contributions by Necker, one figures Louis and the dauphin standing before an open box, with a Necker, who has developed wings, opening the box and abstracting a bag of money: other matters, less significant, appear. On the other fan is figured a lady and gentleman in a carriage driving through a wood, with a parcel under the carriage inscribed Contributions; an officer with a woman riding on the opposite side of the fan, the two meeting at the junction of the two roads.
And so we reach the lurid 14 Juillet. To describe this siege of the Bastille passes the talent of mortals; how much more that of the frail fan!—Of the actual storming, therefore, not a word; we are given instead a view of the fortress with the white flag floating from the turret. M. de Launay’s house is in flames, he himself is led between Jamé and the clock-maker, Hemert, under arrest. Another fan gives us a view of the Bastille with the drawbridge down, De Launay wringing his hands, bemoaning his fate, led prisoner. On the right of the fan are soldiers headed by Élie with the paper of capitulation on the end of his sword, two Invalides imploring mercy.
A third fan shows, in a large medallion, a view of the battlements, with an unfortunate soldier being flung from the height, as De Launay himself had been threatened. In the foreground De Launay dragged in custody. The fan (brisé) strung with a tricolour ribbon.
In a fourth fan the Bastille is relegated to the distance, a company of soldiers drawn up at its gates. In the foreground Liberty is seated with cap in one hand, and in the other a scroll labelled ‘Époque de la Liberté.’ Above, a winged figure blowing a trumpet, on the drapery of which is inscribed ‘Prise a la Bastile le 14 Juilet 1789’; in the right hand a cockade: the subject forming a medallion mounted in the centre of an ivory fan cut in fretwork and decorated with trophies, etc., in gold and colour. An example of this fan was sold at the Walker sale in 1882. ‘Souvenir de la Bastille’ gives a view of the building with neighbouring street. ‘Imp et Fabrique d’Eventails Rabiet. J. Ganné Succ 63 Bould Ménilmontant, Paris. Degovrnay, Éditeur. 28 Rue Mazarine, Paris.’ On the back—fleurs de lys and Vive le Roy, 1789.
A sixth shows the conquerors issuing from the drawbridge, De Launay and ‘Le lieutenant’ in great distress; on the reverse the fan sings ‘L’Époque de la Liberté’:
The Bastille has vanished, the fan remaining as souvenir to be sold for a few sous, and fluttered by the cheek of some light-hearted grisette. ‘Tiens!’ she exclaims, ‘La prise de La Bastille! c’est belle, n’est-ce pas?’ as happily ignorant of the trend of events as majesty in its gilded chamber. ‘Mais,’ says the poor king, ‘c’est une révolte!’ ‘Sire, it is not a revolt,—it is a revolution.’
The era of universal liberty has indeed arrived. In ‘Les Droits de l’Homme, 1789,’ Liberty dons her cap, seats herself upon a pedestal to be saluted by all good citizens with song, dance, and flowers; the former, duly inscribed on the fan, commencing ‘Veillons au Salut de l’empire.’
In a variation of this subject La Liberté holds a plummet and triangle in her right hand, in the other a staff surmounted by a cap of Liberty; the pedestal inscribed, ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, Unité.’
In a third fan La Liberté becomes ‘Patrone des Français,’ and is still provided with plummet and cap.
In ‘Le Serment Civique, 1789,’ the attributes only of Liberty appear, in the shape of three flaming hearts and cap on a flaming altar. Mayor Bailly and Lafayette take the oath, to the accompaniment of a song commencing ‘Français, quand je pense à nos maux.’
The Revolution is therefore sanctioned—one of its earliest results being Le Déménagement du Clergé. On the fan we see a group of bishops, monks, nuns, a number of servants carrying furniture and other effects. A bishop, with pipe and bottle, is seated on the top of a baggagewagon on which is inscribed, ‘J’ai perdu mes bénéfices, Rien n’égale ma douleur.’ A monk, also smoking, is riding on the horse and flourishing a flag inscribed, ‘Guidon.’ ‘Messieurs of the Clergy, you have to be shaved; if you wriggle too much, you will get cut.’137
In the ‘Désespoir des Pensionnaires,’ we are introduced to a group of figures who are bewailing their loss; a messenger in cockaded hat is delivering the notices.
Cockades, indeed, were at this period ‘de rigueur’—the ladies wore them in front of their head-dresses—wore gauze bonnets trimmed on either side with them, a great bow of tricoloured streamers at the back. Stripes everywhere—stripes and cockades, cockades and stripes—stripes on the dresses, slippers, and even the huge muffs of the women; stripes on the waistcoats, stockings, and gloves of the men. The patriotic Frenchmen and Frenchwomen of 1789 were the very incarnation of the tricolour; it was the symbol of the gospel of the Revolution, Blue of Liberty, White of Equality, Red of Fraternity.138
The Fête de la Fédération, 1790, is commemorated on a fan giving in the centre a view of the altar in the Champ de Mars, with Lafayette waving the tricolour, the fan incribed ‘Le Serment fait sur l’Autel de la Patrie le 14 Juillet 1790, la voix de Mr. la Fayette, Major de la Confédération s’est fait entendre au Champ de Mars.’ On either side are busts of King Louis and Lafayette, inscribed ‘Louis XVI., Roi des Français né à Versailles le 23 Aoust 1754.’ ‘M. De La Fayette Com. Géné. de la Garde Nat. Parisienne.’
On another fan the altar, with surrounding booths, arches, etc., and groups of soldiers dancing. On either side eight verses of a poem, commencing, ‘Voilà la Fête de la Fédération,’ etc., to the air ‘Vive Henri IV.’139
| The Abolition of the Slave Trade. | Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. |
| ‘Cabriolet’ Fan. | Schreiber Colln. British Museum. |
The ‘Day of Poignards’ (February 28, 1791) approaches, and friends of Royalty (les chevaliers de poignard) rally round the son of sixty kings. We all know the issue: chevaliers retreated with greater expedition than they came—flung ignominiously downstairs into the darkness of the Tuileries garden, accelerated by ignominious shovings from the sentries—‘spurnings a posteriori, not to be named.’140 Our veracious chronicler the fan provides us with a representation of the scene. The inscription, ‘Arestation e Désarmement de gens au suspects Chau des thuileries le 28 Fer 1791 à 10h du soir,’ with six verses of a revolutionary song, entitled, ‘La Soirée des Poignards,’ the refrain:
The event of the 2nd of April could not pass without the fan’s comment; we therefore have a medallion profile portrait of Mirabeau, inscribed, ‘Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Cte de Mirabeau. Mort le 2 Avril 1791.’
A second Mirabeau fan, in the possession of M. Philippe de Saint-Albin, has in the centre a portrait bust, above which is inscribed, ‘Honoré Gabriel Riquetti Mirabeau,’ and ‘Je combattrai les factieux de tous les partis’; on either side of the portrait two medallions, the subjects including Mirabeau as tribune, and the great orator on his deathbed.
Assignat-fans, 1791, refer to the difficulties with respect to paper-money, the woes of the holders of rentes, when paper-money was not worth one-tenth of its face value, and draw a contrast between the Dives of the past and the financier of the present. On the obverse, a medley of assignats of 1791-2; on the reverse, the two Jeans, the one in ragged clothing and poor surroundings, weeping over his assignats, crying, ‘Ils sont tombés’ and
the other, ‘Jean qui Rit,’ the speculator, who exchanges one louis d’or for 10,000 livres in assignats, is seated at a table with a large coffer and numerous bags filled with gold. He points to his brother ‘Jean qui Pleure’ and says, ‘Il se désole,’ and ‘A de certaines gens, je ne me suis point fié. Ce Résultat pour moi, vaut mieux que du papier.’
On several assignat-fans the money card, the seven of diamonds, is introduced, its significance being sufficiently obvious.
And royalty in its gilded saloon, what has become of it? How fares it with the poor Louis and his devoted family? That flight from the Rue de l’Échelle in the darkness of the night of the 20th June 1791, when the lady shaded in broad gypsy-hat, tapped, from sheer playfulness, with her badine—‘light little magic rod such as the Beautiful then wore—the wheel of Lafayette’s carriage as it rolled past’; this goes unrecorded, as also the incident in the village of Sainte-Menehould, when Post-master Drouet recognises a familiar face in the lady with the slouched gypsy-hat and the ‘Grosse-Tête’ in round hat and peruke. ‘Quick, Sieur Guillaume, Clerk of the Directoire, bring me a new Assignat! Drouet compares the Paper-money Picture with the Gross Head in round hat there: by Day and Night! you might say this one was an attempted engraving of the other.’141
And so event succeeds event—over the final tragedy of the 21st January 1793, no less than over the more piteous scene of October 16, the fan discreetly draws a veil.
| Napoleon shows his troops the channel, 1803. | Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. |
Several fans have for their subject the Testament du Louis XVI., and give medallion portraits of the king and various members of his family, with the symbol of immortality; the inscription, ‘Testament De Louis Seize, Né Le 23 Aoust 1754. Mort le Lundi 21 Janvier 1793.’ On the sides or reverse of the fans, the will written out at length.
In ‘Le Songe,’ a female figure is represented asleep; on a tomb in the centre of the fan, a figure of Louis appears when the fan is placed against the light; the representation being veiled or concealed by means of a thin piece of paper pasted over it.
Mourning-fans were common with the more loyal portion of the community; these also consisted of concealed portraits of Louis and his family, and are usually decorated with black gauze and spangles; the inscription, ‘Vive le Roi!’
A favourite device was a pansy or heart’s-ease (‘that’s for thoughts’), with the portraits appearing on the principal petal, upon the fan being held against the light. These obtained later, when popular opinion, becoming tired of the Revolution and its consequences, was again veering round in the direction of Royalty.
But who is this pale-faced citoyenne of aristocratic mien, in high ‘constitutional’ hat, with black cockade, fan in hand, asking leave to speak with citizen Marat?... Charlotte’s fan is mentioned in the deposition of Laurent Bas, who was working in the house at the time; certain it is that the fan was not relinquished when the blow was struck. The ‘trade,’ fearful lest the event should cast discredit on their goods, immediately brought out fans ‘à la Marat.’ The most popular of these reproduce the tribune with Lepelletier, Charlier, and Barras. This, with its burden of pikes and caps of Liberty, was bought by the Jacobin customers at forty-eight livres a gross. An example occurs in the Bibliothèque Nationale, where, singularly enough, it is pasted in an album bearing the arms of Marie-Antoinette, and is believed to have been arranged by the queen herself.142
On another fan, ‘Liberty’ is seated between medallion portraits of Marat and Lepelletier; the inscription, ‘Marat,’ ‘Liberté Unité,’ ‘Peletier.’ Ultimately the event itself figured as the principal subject of a fan, Charlotte being represented as carrying a dagger in one hand and a fan in the other.
The debate on the 4th February 1794 on the abolition of the slave-trade forms the subject of a fan (illustrated). Three years previously, Grégoire and Robespierre had passed an act whereby coloured persons born of free parents were placed on an equality with whites. The fan-makers, ever ready to seize upon a popular incident, promptly issued a fan with five figures, representing ‘France,’ ‘Mercury,’ ‘The Colonies,’ ‘England,’ and the ‘United States,’ holding scrolls with inscriptions in English, heraldic devices on either side. La France, with shield bearing staff of Unity and cap of Liberty, is saying, ‘We find true happiness but by making others happy.’ Mercury, holding fetters, says, ‘Don’t go to deceive me nor believe you will escape. I extend my power over Sea and Land, and my vengeance will find you even at the end of the World.’ ‘The Colonies,’ dressed after the fashion of Marmontel’s Incas, exclaims, ‘Charming hope of Liberty, come and comfort my agitated heart.’ England, crowned, with a leopard crouching at her feet, and holding ‘The Colonies’ by the hand, says, ‘She offers me Guineas.’ The United States is represented by a black woman, plumed, with a sheath of arrows over her shoulder; the inscription, ‘Independence and trade all over the globe.’ The etching is signed ‘Martin.’
| The projected invasion of England by Napoleon, 1803. | Bibliothèque Nationale. |
Cabriolets had appeared much earlier, and had continued in favour. These formed the subject of printed as well as painted fans.143 From Cabriolets it is but a step to Incroyables, who had their incredible cabriolets as well as their racehorses with slim legs and tails cropped almost to the root, the fan-makers indulging the public in their new-found Anglomania. In these curious prints, a number of which were produced by Carl Vernet, everything is incredible—the wheels of the ‘cabs’ incredibly thin, the seats incredibly high, the figures of both sexes incredibly tall and attenuated. ‘Cabriolets,’ says Mercier, ‘are made lighter every day to give increased speed in the race for wealth.... There are now three things to admire in a fashionable “cab”—the silver body, the wheels, and the horse; the whole thing, including the owner and his groom, ought not to weigh more than a good-sized portmanteau.’
Incredibility became the order of the day. The fashionables, who abhorred the Revolution, adopted an incredible method of demonstrating their sentiments; hair was cut incredibly short behind, as it had been cut for the victims of the scaffold during the reign of terror. Further to recall the scene, they let it fall as at the moment of execution over their eyes, this being the style à la victime. A balle des victimes was given by its votaries, to which no woman was admitted who had not had a relative guillotined.144
Once again assignat-fans made their appearance: upon the death of the Republic and the birth of the Directoire, when the pendulum of public opinion was once more swinging in the direction of Royalism, the assignats being arranged so that the king’s head appeared in the centre of the fan. These, with defiant glances, were fluttered under the noses of the police by the fair aristocrats of the Palàis Égalité.145
Then came the period of the worship of Nature and the triumph of Rousseau, with the cry of ‘Long live the author of Émile, Le Contrat Social, La Nouvelle Héloïse!’, Jean-Jacques being glorified in a triumphal car drawn by two bullocks garlanded with roses.146
During the temporary lull by which every storm is followed, the preternaturally high-waisted ladies banished ennui by devotion to the Love-God; and we have many ‘Ruses de l’Amour’, ‘Triomphes de l’Amour,
etc. Cagliostro had some years previously departed pour ‘l’Isle de Malthe.’ Marat, Danton, Robespierre, had been severally removed from the scene of their activities: the fan-makers were at the point of despair at the absence of a new sensation, when—enter le petit Caporal!!!
Among the myriad fans recording the multifarious activities of this amazing personality,147 we have a representation of Wurmser surrendering his sword to the young general, a small medallion on either side of the battle, and a view of the city: the inscription, ‘A Buonaparte Vienen.’ The border, formed of the word ‘Buonaparte’ in large capitals surrounded by rays of light, these alternated by laurel wreaths; the fan excellently engraved by Bertaux.
At the psychological moment of Bonaparte’s appearance at the banquet given in his honour at the ‘Salle d’audience, 10 Dec. 1797.’ his ‘star,’ in the shape of the planet Venus, appeared in the heavens at midday. Here indeed was an opportunity for the fan-makers, who promptly produced a fan of an astrologer with telescope, surrounded by an excited crowd, who declared the appearance to be a comet. This, says Henri Bouchot, gave the signal to the Agréables who dressed themselves and their hair à la comète, à l’étoile, and showered stars in all directions.
We also have a reference to the proposals of peace to the allied powers by Napoleon on his elevation as First Consul in 1799. Bonaparte is here crowned by Fame and Peace; points to a map of Europe held by a figure of the French Republic, who also bears the tricolour inscribed, ‘Nouvelles Républiques, Règne des Arts, Alliance avec les Français.’ From a pedestal the French cock utters its clarion note. To the left, Victory inscribes on a monument the names of Napoleon’s generals. Above in a glory the legend, ‘Paix Glorieuse An VI.’
| Adventure in Russia. | Schreiber Collection British Museum. |
| Marriage of Napoleon with Marie Louise. | Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. |
On another fan referring to the same event, Napoleon is discovered standing by a figure of Peace who bears the olive branch; the inscription, ‘Bonaparte et La Paix.’ Right and left are figures of Commerce and Agriculture, and in the background a group of peasants express their joy.
In the really handsome fan engraved in stipple by Godefroy we have an apotheosis of Bonaparte. A bust of the Emperor within an oak wreath occupies the centre, with the genii of Immortality and Plenty bearing their attributes; on either side, allegories of Peace and War in medallions associated with arabesque. The inscription, ‘Dessiné Par Chaudet, Fontaine et Persier; Gravé Par Godefroy.’148
The great ‘Descente en Angleterre, 1803,’ forms the subject of a number of fans. Napoleon, to the accompaniment of Fame’s trumpet and the rataplan of the drum-major, shows his troops the Channel, and points to St. Paul’s(!) and the Tower (French version), on an island.
The Channel is tunnelled (in imagination), troops pour through with ammunition, cannon, and other paraphernalia of war. Above, a fleet of vessels on the sea, and an army of balloons in the air, invade the devoted island, which defends itself by means of captive kites, sky rockets, and the guns booming from the fortifications at Dover. This in several versions.149
The crowning of Napoleon as King of Italy at Milan, on May 23, 1805, is recorded, as also the Peace of Tilsit, 1807, by which Prussia was stripped of almost half of its territory. On this latter fan, Napoleon, the Emperor Alexander, and the King of Prussia appear on a raft.
In 1810 the Emperor, in all the bravery of feathers, leads the Archduchess Marie-Louise to the altar of Hymen; La France offering a diadem of stars.
Of fans referring to the Russian campaign of 1812 two appear in the Schreiber collection. In the one, Napoleon is seen on horseback, attended by a general, surveying his army, the troops saluting; in the other, the journey to Paris in a sledge drawn by three horses at full gallop, Napoleon, wrapped up in furs, looking back on the wounded and dead lying in the snow. Both fans inscribed, ‘Aventuras de Bonaparte en Rusia en 1812.’
In the subject of the Nicaragua Canal the fan assumes the role of prophet, and with this we must bring to a close this brief carnival of a century. On the 12 Vendémiaire of the year XII., one Martin la Bastide deposited in the Bibliothèque Nationale two prints of a fan setting forth his scheme for uniting two oceans through the lake of Nicaragua. He had already made the suggestion twelve years previously in Laborde’s Histoire abrégée de la mer du Sud.
He was not, however, the first to demonstrate the feasibility of cutting a canal at Nicaragua; a similar proposal had been made by the Portuguese navigator, Antonio Galvão, as early as 1550, and in the following year the Spanish historian, Gómara, submitted a memorial to Philip II., urging in forcible terms that the work be undertaken forthwith. ‘The project was, nevertheless, opposed by the Spanish Government, who concluded that a monopoly of communication with their possessions in the New World was of greater importance than a passage by sea to Cathay.’150
Two fans referring to this subject appear in the Schreiber collection; in the one, the map of Central America on the front, and of North America on the reverse, a portion missing: and in the other, the composition complete. The fan is adorned with, on the left, a group of allegorical figures of the four Regions of the world listening to Mercury, the god of commerce, who points out the course of the proposed canal; on the right, a reference to La Bastide’s appeal to the King of Spain, who is here listening to the voice of France urging him to complete the canal; and an elaborate border of ships, tritons, etc., with a summary of La Bastide’s investigations. Alas for vain hopes, and the futility of human endeavour, the best laid schemes are often doomed to disappointment, and it was not until nearly a century had elapsed that the canal, which La Bastide foresaw, though as through a glass darkly, had any prospect of realisation.151
IVORY FAN. (Madras. Nineteenth Century.)
IN England the fan’s comments on the public events of the eighteenth and the latter years of the preceding century begin with a satirical allusion to the intrigues of European diplomacy concerning the affairs of Poland. Ten female figures representing France, Spain, Sardinia, Empire, Saxony, Russia, Poland, Britannia, Holland, and Prussia are seated round a table, the first seven playing piquet; an empty chair, labelled ‘I pray to God for peace,’ is reserved for the Pope (Innocent XI.), who is seen on the left protesting that he does not understand the game. A figure in civilian dress in the foreground is holding a scroll which is lettered, ‘’Tis not the interest of the nation to play without advantage. In time Commerce might pay the cards.’ On the extreme right is the Sultan of Turkey on horseback, exclaiming, ‘If you don’t leave off, I’ll tear the cards,’ with the Shah of Persia on foot, saying, ‘Seigneur Jack, Persia shall make you change your note.’ The date is between 1679 and 1689, the period of the pontificate of Pope Innocent XI.
| A New Game of Piquet among the nations of Europe. | Schreiber Colln. British Museum. |
The coronation banquet of George II. in Westminster Hall, on October 11, 1727, is recorded in an extremely primitive etching. The king and queen are enthroned on a daïs in the centre of the fan; in the background are galleries of spectators, and in front the champion of England throws down his gauntlet. The subject is enclosed in a cartouche, and on the sides of the fan are the crown, sceptre, ampulla, vestments, etc.; the whole rudely coloured by hand.
It was, possibly, as some recompense for its author’s gallant defence of their most powerful weapon that the ladies helped to swell the tide of prosperity of the Beggar’s Opera, produced in November of this same year (1727). Fans were carried illustrating the favourite songs of the piece, which enjoyed its successful run of sixty-three nights, ‘making Gay rich and Rich gay.’
The defeat and withdrawal of Sir Robert Walpole’s excise scheme provided the occasion for many satires which appeared during the year 1733. In these Walpole is represented as an itinerant quack doctor, and as an exciseman, in which latter character he was hanged and burned in effigy on April 12th of the same year.
In the fan a comparison is drawn between Walpole and Wolsey, and on a medallion portrait of the last named is inscribed:
A figure is seen walking in a garden with two papers in his hands, the one inscribed, ‘Liberty and Property,’ and the other, ‘No Dutch Politicks. Down with the Excise.’ In the mid-distance a figure holds a purse and draws attention to the portrait of Wolsey. Two barrels are figured in the foreground, together with the Excise Monster in the throes of death, on the body of which are inscribed the various articles affected, as Printing, Salt, Malt, Gin, etc.
The print has apparently been cut down, and evidently forms part of a design or series of designs.
M. Gamble advertises as follows in the Craftsman of June 9, 1733:—
‘This day is published for all Loyal Ladies, an Excise Fan; or the Political Monster as described in Fog’s Journal, May the 5th, curiously delineated, Being a Memorial for Posterity. In this most agreeable fan is represented:
‘I. A Picture of Cardinal Wolsey (the first Excise Master of England) done from an original Painting.
II. A view of his Feats on one Hand, and those of his Successor on the other.
III. An English Lawyer with two honest Briefs.
IV. The famous Monster-Monger, Ferdinando Ferdinandi, drawn to the Life.
V. The Death of the Excise Monster.
VI. A modern Inquisition with an Assembly of Merry Spectators (as Vintners, Tobacconist, etc.) of Ferdinando’s Lamentation over his departed Beast.
‘Sold by M. Gamble at the Golden Fan in St. Martin’s Court near Leicester Fields. Price 2s. 6d.’
On August 25 of the same year, M. Gamble again advertises the fan and adds:—
‘This is the Fan mentioned in the London Magazine; it will be very useful at all meetings for nominating Members of Parliament, not only for cooling the Heats which may arise, but to show the nature of an arbitrary Monster.
‘There is now published the third Edition with additions.’
The marriage of the Crown Princess with the Prince of Orange in 1734 was the occasion of much rejoicing, and the nuptials were celebrated with the greatest magnificence, the prince receiving with his bride the sum of £80,000 as portion. In an address to His Majesty from the loyal and dutiful citizens of London, the greatest glory, the brightest triumphs, the most distinguished prosperity are presaged from another alliance with that truly illustrious house, the house of Nassau; ‘from whence so many heroes have sprung, the scourges of tyrants and the asserters of liberty.’
The fan joins in the general congratulatory chorus; a view of the marriage ceremony in the French Chapel of St. James’s Palace is given; the King and Queen, with the royal family, are seated in boxes at the back.
There was an allegorical version of this event, in which the contracting parties appear in classic costume, with a bishop and other persons in the background in the costume of the period. In front Hymen lights his torch from that of Cupid. In other parts of the composition are seen: An infant embracing a lamb, a pelican in her piety, an infant Hercules killing serpents, etc. The whole surrounded by an orange border.
Several variations of this are extant, one omitting the orange-trees, with a border printed from another plate.
The following advertisement appeared in the Craftsman for July 7, 1733:—
‘Just Published
‘By Jonathan Pinchbeck, Fanmaker, at the Fan and Crown in New Round Court in the Strand; and sold by him, and at the Fan-shops of London and Westminster.
‘The Nassau Fan; or Love and Beauty Triumphant: Being an Encomium on the Nuptial Ceremony which will shortly be consummated between his Highness the Prince of Orange and the Princess Royal of England; adorned with the Pictures of those illustrious Personages, attended by Hymen, Fame, Minerva, Cupids, etc. Together with a copy of Verses and other Decorations suitable to the occasion.
‘N.B.—Beware of Counterfeits; the true original Nassau Fans having the name (Pinchbeck) prefix’d to the mount.’
On August 18th this advertisement is repeated, with the additional statement that ‘there are a few neatly printed on leather for the curious,’ and a note to the following effect:—‘A spurious edition of the Nassau Fan has been lately offer’d to the publick, in Prejudice to the Original Nassau Fan; but as all Persons that have seen both are fully satisfy’d that it bears no comparison with the former, ‘tis no wonder that the Design to lessen the original in the esteem of the Publick, proves as fruitless as the Attempt is unfair and ungenerous’; this evidently referring to the following, which had appeared in the Craftsman a week earlier, August 11:—
‘This day is Published
‘The New Nassau Fan, humbly dedicated to her Royal Highness Princess Anne,
By her Highness’s most humble
and devoted servant,
Richard Hylton.
‘In this fan is represented the Portraitures of his Highness William, Prince of Orange and Nassau, etc., and her Royal Highness Princess Anne (done from the original Painting of Van Dyke and Hysing), in an Orbit, supported by Cupids, adorn’d with other emblematical Ornaments, disposed in a curious and beautiful Manner.
‘To be had of the aforesaid Richard Hylton, at the Golden Fan in Great George St., Hanover Square.’
On September 1st this advertisement is repeated, with the addition of the following couplet:—
‘Just Heaven does Anne and Nassau joyn,
To glad great George and Caroline.’
And the following reply to Pinchbeck’s advertisements of 7th July and 18th August:—
‘N.B.—This is to inform that ingenious Gentleman (who calls himself) the Proprietor of a Nassau Fan, that he has been guilty of a very gross Error, and has prejudiced himself by informing the Publick that he knows no Difference between a Fan which is made like the Frontispiece of a Halfpenny Ballad, and one that’s done in a curious Manner by one of the best Hands in England.’