This sally calls forth the following rejoinder from Pinchbeck, who, on September 15th, repeats his former advertisement, with this footnote:—

‘N.B.—I would not have the splenetick Author of (as he calls it) the loyal Nassau Fan imagine that I think him capable either of doing, or saying, any Thing Worthy of Notice, tho’ for once I condescend to inform him that the Publick are sufficiently convinc’d of his Ignorance in putting his Trifle in Competition with the Original Nassau Fan, as well as of his Malice in perverting the Sense of my Advertisement. I shall, however, submit my Performance to the judgment of the Publick, and not trouble them with quackish Epistles quite foreign to the Purpose.

‘Beware of Counterfeits. The Original Nassau Fan having the name (Pinchbeck) prefix’d to the Mount.’

On September 22nd, Pinchbeck repeats his advertisement, and once again cautions the public against counterfeits. (In the highest esteem among the Ladies, and infinitely surpasseth every Thing of the Kind offered to the Publick.)

A month earlier a fresh candidate for public favour had appeared in the shape of the ‘Orange Fan,’ a composition of an orange-tree and a rose-bush, with a view of London in the distance, a three-masted vessel in the foreground, and above, a dove holding in his beak a letter addressed ‘To The Lovely She, Who has more than 80,000 Charms’; on the upper and lower border of the fan, an ode in five stanzas, ‘set to Music: Tune, Let’s be Jolly; fill our Glasses.’

This was advertised by M. Gamble in the Craftsman for August 25th, the charms of the ‘Lovely She’ being reduced in the advertisement to 30,000.

The price of the Mount painted in proper colours, 1s. 6d.
Ready mounted upon neat sticks, 2s. 6d.

The ‘New Nassau Fan,’ advertised by Hylton, is here given, and must certainly be said to bear very fair comparison with Pinchbeck’s. The portraits of the royal pair occupy a medallion in the centre, supported by Cupids above; two winged figures are holding a wreath and blowing trumpets, from which are suspended the royal arms of the two respective countries.

Below is a ribbon inscribed, ‘Ad Altiora Speramus,’ with a Cupid holding a royal crown and star. A scroll, at the extremities of which are two medals of George II. and William the Silent, Prince of Orange, is inscribed:

In addition are figures of Peace with olive branch and dove, and Liberty holding cap on a staff, together with a Bible inscribed ‘B. Sacra,’ a lion at her feet.

The fan is freely etched, coloured by hand, and mounted on plain wavy wooden sticks.

Pinchbeck continued to advertise his fan until April 20, 1734, when, presumably, popular interest in the affair waned.

In 1730-33, Hogarth produced his ‘Harlot’s Progress’ (commenced at the time of his marriage), its various scenes being promptly pirated by the fan-makers. Mr. F. G. Stephens, in his Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires, British Museum, vol. iii. part I, page 28, refers to fans printed with copies from ‘A Harlot’s Progress,’ three designs being on each side of the fan, usually printed in red ink. These fans, says Nichols, Hogarth’s biographer, were customarily given to the maid-servants in Hogarth’s family, doubtless as moral lessons.152 M. Gamble had advertised them during the year 1733 in the Craftsman and Daily Journal. In a footnote to his advertisement of the Church of England fan we have the following:—

N.B.—‘For those that are Curious, a small number are work’d off on fine Paper, fit to Frame. Likewise a new Edition of the ‘Harlot’s Progress’ in Fans, or singly to Frame.’—Daily Journal, Jan. 24, 1733.

By the kindness of Mr. C. Fairfax Murray we are enabled to illustrate an excellent example of one of these very rare fan leaves, inscribed in ink (probably by the collector Baker), ‘Given to me by Mrs. Hogarth, 1781.’ In the centre is the quack doctor, printed in a greenish yellow, the two side scenes of ‘Bridewell’ and the ‘Funeral’ in a rich red, the fan being engraved in pure line. The scenes are inscribed respectively—‘In a high Salivation’; ‘In Bridewell beating of Hemp’; and the ‘Funeral’; with suitable explanatory verses.

Other fans were issued, these probably by another publisher, giving the various scenes grouped together, the figures slightly rearranged to suit the space, indifferently etched in outline, and printed in red on skin. Five leaves appear in the Schreiber collection; the first gives the whole composition; the second, the same, with several scenes omitted; the third, with further omissions; the fourth, with the central subject only, of the arrival of ‘Mary Hackabout in London,’ partially coloured by hand; the fifth, a spoiled, indistinct print, covered with a Chinese landscape printed in black, the evident intention being to utilise the skin mount.

The print of the Midnight Modern Conversation, 1733, copied by salt-glazed potters of the period, and appearing on snuff-boxes and punch-bowls, for the latter of which it was eminently suitable, was used also for a fan mount.

In this print, to quote Mr. Austin Dobson, a party of eleven, whose degrees of intoxication are admirably differentiated, have finished some two dozen bottles of claret; and at four in the morning are commencing a capacious bowl of punch, presided over by a rosy-gilled parson—the

of the Westminster Latinist, Vincent Bourne; but in real life identified both with the famous ‘Orator’ Henley, and the Rev. Cornelius Ford, a dissolute cousin of Dr. Johnson.

In the Daily Journal for May 24, 1733, we have the following advertisement:—

‘This Day is Published,

‘A Beautiful Mount for a Fan, call’d the Midnight Modern Conversation, curiously performed from that incomparable Design of that celebrated Artist the ingenious Mr. Hogarth; to which is prefixed, for the Entertainment of the Ladies, a Description of each particular Person that Gentleman hath introduced in that Night Scene. Sold at Mr. Chinavax’s great Toyshop against Suffolk-street, Charing Cross; Mr. Deard’s against St. Dunstan’s Church, Fleet Street; Mrs. Cambal in St. Martin’s Court; and by B. Dickinson at Inigo Jones’ Head against Exeter Change in the Strand, at which Place they may be had Wholesale at reasonable Rates.’

No print of this fan-mount is available for reproduction.

The victory of Admiral Vernon in his good ship the Burford at Portobello, on the 22nd November 1739, though not a particularly significant feat even with six ships of the line, was immensely popular with the masses. It was a familiar subject with the potters, especially the Staffordshire potter Astbury, who commemorated it on tea-pots, mugs, and the Portobello bowl.

The fan is not very interesting as a design, the six ships appearing to overpower the fortress, which was an old one. Five stanzas of verse appear, expressing the determination to avenge the wrongs of Britons, to support her injured trade, etc.

The etching is signed ‘F. Chassereau, April y^e 22, 1740.’

Vernon’s exploit at Carthagena, April 1, 1740, is also recorded; on the left, a view of the English camp; on the right, the flying inhabitants, including a figure named ‘Don Blas’; the fan inscribed ‘Cartagena.’

The motion by Mr. Sandys in the House of Commons on January 29, 1740, and that of Lord Carteret in the House of Lords on February 13, 1741, to remove Sir Robert Walpole (who at that time was exceedingly unpopular) from his post of Prime Minister, is commemorated on a fan which is a free copy from a print published by T. Cooper at the Globe in Paternoster Row, 1741, and referred to in a letter of Horace Walpole, written from Florence to his friend Conway, March 25, 1741: ‘I have received a print by this post that diverts me extremely: the Motion. Tell me, dear, now, who made the design, and who took the likenesses: they are admirable; the lines are as good as one sees on such occasions. I wrote last post to Sir Robert, to wish him joy; I hope he received my letter.’

The scene is Whitehall, with the Treasury in the distance. A coach containing Lord Carteret, who is leaning out of the window and crying, ‘Let me get out,’ is driven by the Duke of Argyll, brandishing a flaming sword, the Earl of Chesterfield as postilion. Bubb Dodington, in the form of a spaniel, is seated between the Duke’s legs. Lord Cobham behind as footman. Lord Lyttelton follows on horseback, whip in hand. Several persons are being overridden by the coach, which is nearly overturned. Mr. Sandys, in the foreground, is dropping the ‘Place Bill,’ and exclaiming, ‘I thought what would come of putting him on the box.’ Pulteney, exclaiming, ‘Z—nds! they’re over,’ and leading his followers by the nose, wheels a barrow laden with ‘Craftsman,’ ‘Letters to the Earl,’ ‘State of Nat—’, ‘Champion,’ ‘Common Sense,’ etc., with a dice box and dice. Dr. Smalbroke, Bishop of Lichfield, accompanied by three pigs (one only in the original print), bows obsequiously.

The ten verses which appeared on the print are inscribed on the right hand of the fan. In ‘nigger’ parlance they at once propound questions and supply the answers, thus:

Thomas Wright (Caricature History of the Georges) thus refers to the prints: ‘Several editions of “The Motion” were published, and one, in the collection of Mr. Burke, is fitted for a fan. Another, very neatly drawn and etched on a folio plate, and dated February 19th, contains great variations, and wants much of the pointed meaning of the genuine print. They here appear to be driving into a river. Pulteney and Sandys are omitted; two prelates hold on to the straps behind the coach, which seems in imminent danger of falling; yet Carteret cries out to his driver, “John, if you drive so fast, you’ll overset us all, by G—d.”’

On the 2nd of March the ‘Patriots’ retaliated with a caricature entitled ‘The Reason,’ in which we have another carriage with the portly form of Sir Robert Walpole as coachman:

In this print, the foppish and effeminate Lord Hervey, well known by Pope’s sarcastic title of ‘Lord Fanny,’ is riding, fan in hand, on a wooden horse, drawn by two men, one of whom cries, ‘Sit fast, Fanny; we are sure to win.’

The fan-makers were not slow in following up with a fan. On April 25, the following advertisement appeared in the Craftsman:—

‘This day is published, by J. Pinchbeck at the Fan and Crown in New Round Court, in the Strand.

‘The Reason for the Motion. A Satire, whereon are the Portraits of divers Noble Personages. To which is annexed, Explanatory Verses, which will serve as a Key to the Whole.

‘Where may be had, All sorts of Fans and Fan-Mounts. The newest fashion, and suited to the nicest Taste. Wholesale or Retail.

‘N.B.—Gentlemen and Ladies may have any Device done in a curious Manner, according to their own Direction.

‘There is a Spurious Sort about the Town, which has not the Verses, and but part of the Figures.’

The Jacobite rebellion of 1745 was commemorated by a fan leaf engraved by Sir Robert Strange, intended for the sympathisers with the Pretender. The moment for the rebellion was well chosen—the king was in Hanover, the Duke of Cumberland had fought and lost Fontenoy in April of the same year, and was still engaged in Flanders. The fan shows the Prince in armour, with Cameron of Lochiel as Mars, and Flora Macdonald as Bellona.

In the fan representing the apotheosis of the Young Pretender, the Prince, supported by Mars and Bellona, is claiming the inheritance of the English crown; a figure of Fame bears the laurel wreath, at his side is an altar blazing with devoted hearts, and above are Venus and Cupid seated on a cloud. On the left, Britannia smiles through her tears as a dove approaches bearing the palm branch, emblem of Peace. On the right, Jupiter with his thunder scatters the Hanoverian faction into obscurity, and Rapine and Murder are prostrated. An example, carefully coloured, appeared in the Walker sale in 1882, and passed into the possession of Lady Charlotte Schreiber for the sum of £7. The stick is ivory, carved with subjects and fretwork.

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed October 7, 1748, was celebrated in the following April by a grand display of fireworks in the Green Park, opposite to His Majesty’s library. A fan fairly well engraved, the design well disposed, shows a view of the temporary building erected for this purpose, which consisted of a ‘magnificent Doric temple,’ with two extended wings terminated by pavilions, the whole being one hundred and fourteen feet high and four hundred and ten feet long. The exhibition began about nine o’clock in the evening, and was introduced by ‘a grand overture of warlike instruments composed by Mr. Handel.’ About eleven o’clock the whole building was illuminated, in which state it continued till between two and three in the morning; His Majesty and the royal family retiring about twelve.

The untimely death of the Prince of Wales in 1751 threw London into mourning, the fan following suit with a portrait bust of Frederick on a cenotaph, with mourning figures of Art, Science, and Britannia, a figure of Hope with an anchor occupying the foreground. The fan here, true to its antecedents, discovers more loyalty than did some of the rhymesters of the period, one of whom produced an epitaph of which the following is a portion:—

Wolfe’s victory in 1759, commemorated in Bow statuettes and Staffordshire busts and jugs, supplied the fan-makers also with a subject for illustration: in a life of Wolfe it is mentioned that fans were printed of the taking of Quebec.

Admiral Rodney is another instance in which both potters and fanmakers vied with each other in honouring the hero of the hour. The fan in the Schreiber collection is delicately engraved in mezzotint, and shows Rodney trampling upon the French and Spanish flags. Neptune is offering a sea crown, while a Cupid above bears a laurel wreath. The picture is supplemented by festoons, ribbons, and other devices; the whole coloured by hand.

The fan abundantly testifies to the popularity of the reigning house of Hanover. Thus we have, in addition to the loyal fans already referred to, a medallion portrait of George III., held in the hand of Neptune, who is seated in his chariot drawn by four horses, and driven by a Cupid who blows a blast from a trumpet. This designed by Uwins and engraved in stipple by Cardon.

The king also appears as the subject of a large medallion on a pedestal surrounded by Cupids and a figure of Fame with trumpet. In the foreground are figures of Britannia and Commerce; on a tripod with a flaming heart is inscribed, ‘The Heart of the Nation.’ On each side the initials G. R. and the royal crown. Published May 13, 1791, by A. P. Birman, the fan being signed A. P. Birnam, Inv^t.; W. Hinks, Sculp^t. This fan leaf is a free copy from that engraved by D. Chodowiecki in 1787, commemorating the accession of Frederick William II. to the throne of Prussia, and was made to do duty both for the King and the Duke of York by the alteration of the bust, and the substitution of the initials D. Y. for G. R., the arabesques re-engraved.

The royal family appear on six medallion portraits united by a ribbon, with the royal crown, feathers, and a trophy of arms, flags, etc., the latter indicating the martial proclivities of the Duke of York.153

Another fan gives a large Royal Arms surmounted by the crowned lion, with the rose and thistle and the initials G. R. in medallions on either side, united by festoons of flowers with doves; the royal motto, ‘Dieu et mon Droit,’ on a scroll below; the fan inscribed, ‘Vive Le Roy.’ Published by T. Balster, March 19, 1789.

A ‘Representation of a Royal Concert at Buckingham House’ is a copy of an engraving by Barlow after a drawing by Cruikshank. ‘Publish’d as the Act directs, October 16, 1781, by J. Preston at his Music Warehouse, No. 97, near Beaufort Buildings, Strand.’ In the subject occupying the centre of the fan, the king appears seated at the right-hand corner. At the sides, a canone and canzonet by Giordani, together with a French and Venetian canzonet, with music.

In 1788 the royal family honoured the exhibition of the Royal Academy with a visit; this event being commemorated on two fans varying considerably in the number and disposition of the figures, and in the arrangement of the background. The fan leaf in the Schreiber collection is designed by ‘P. Ramberg, P. Martini, Sculpt. Pub^d March 6, 1789, by A. Poggi, St. George’s Row, Hyde Park,’ this being from Martini’s original plate, also published by Poggi, cut down to the shape of a fan.

The fan leaf at present in the collection at South Kensington is printed on vellum and tinted, and is accompanied by an engraved key to the different personages depicted on the fan.

The marriage of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.) to Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795, provides the occasion for a fan, with two oval medallion portraits in stipple of ‘The Illustrious Pair,’ on either side of a large Prince of Wales’s feathers. ‘Publish’d Jan^ry 1, 1795, by J. Read, 133 Pall Mall.’ The same plate was printed in colours and published on the same date. The ‘Royal Pair’ again appear in the form of medallion portraits, with the Royal Arms of Great Britain and Brunswick. Still another fan commemorative of this event shows bust portraits of the prince and princess in the midst of a medley of prints, riddles, etc., with a frieze of caricature busts of various personages. ‘Published at Sudlow’s Fan Warehouse, 191 Strand.’

‘The Prince of Wales’ (Schreiber collection of unmounted fan leaves, No. 11) is a quite charming fan leaf. The medallion portrait is printed in a warm brown, the field of the fan painted in blue of a pleasant quality, the ornaments painted in silver and Chinese white. This is a scheme of colour adopted on many fans of the period; the four colours forming an extremely effective harmony.

The popularity of Lord Howe’s victory over the French on the ‘glorious first of June,’ 1794, is evinced by the frequency with which it was commemorated on English pottery in the shape of statuettes, medallions, mugs, jugs, etc. On the fan also we have the subject of a seated Britannia bearing a medallion portrait of the admiral; the union jack, lion, cornucopia, and a figure of Fame completing the composition. The fan inscribed, ‘Lord Howe’s decisive victory over the Grand French fleet, June 1, 1794.’ This published by B. Coker, 118 Fleet Street, August 19, 1794. An example occurs in the collection of Mr. Burdett-Coutts.

A ‘view of the trial of Warren Hastings, Esq., at Westminster Hall’ in 1778, is given in the centre of a fan having oval medallions at the sides with references to the numbers on the engraving, as follows:—

‘A. Hon^ble House of Commons. B. Foreign Ministers. C. Duke of Newcastle’s Gallery. D. Councell for the Prosecution. E. Councell for the Prisoner. F. Dukes, &c. &c. G. Peeresses. H. Board of Works. I. The Throne. K. Recess for His Majesty. L. Recess for the Royal Family. M. Judges. N. Lord High Chancellor. O. Vicounts and Barons. P. Warren Hastings, Esq., Prisoner. Q. Committee of the House of Commons.

‘Publish’d as the Act directs by Cock & Co., No. 36 Snow Hill. Sept^r. 22^nd, 1788.’

Church-fans appeared in the early part of the century.154 These were designed for the purpose of inculcating the spirit of true piety during the hours of divine worship. Comments were made in the public journals on the unsuitable character of fan mounts used in church, and also on the general behaviour of persons of both sexes. These culminated in an amusing satire which appeared in the form of a letter from Vetustus, in the Gentleman’s Magazine for May 1753. In this the writer expresses some surprise that ‘in the course of the controversy now on foot concerning the expedience of a revision of our liturgy, no mention has been made of some ceremonies introduced by certain polite persons of both sexes, who, if they may not be styled the pillars, have undoubted right to be called the ornaments of the Church of England. That of the snuff-box may be allowed to obviate some part of the objection to the length of the service, since it precludes the drowsy members of the congregation from any subterfuge in that excuse of Horace:

The writer desires also ‘to do a piece of justice to the ladies who have lately contrived to improve the service of the Church, though by so inconsiderable an implement as a fan mount; for, reflecting that some of the grosser sex may probably come to church chiefly on account of these fair beings, and that the devotion of these their brethren might cool by having the immediate object of it withdrawn from their view, during the tedious intervals of prayer, they have been so charitable as to supply them with some edifying subjects of contemplation, depicted on the very cloud which intercepts the beatific vision.’

As an instance of the taste and discretion of these fair votaries, a list is subjoined of a dozen designs elegantly executed, which were actually displayed by way of screens to so many pretty faces, disposed in a semicircular arrangement about the holy table:

  1. Darby and Joan, with their attributes.

  2. Harlequin, Pierrot, and Columbine.

  3. The Prodigal Son with his harlots, copied from the ‘Rake’s Progress.’

  4. A rural dance, with a band of musick, consisting of a fiddle, a bag-pipe, and a Welch-harp.

  5. The taking of Porto Bello.

  6. The Solemnities of a Filiation.

  7. Joseph and his Mistress.

  8. The humours of Change-Alley.

  9. Silenus, with his proper symbols and supporters.

10. The first interview of Isaac and Rebecca.

11. The Judgment of Paris.

12. Vauxhall Gardens, with the decorations and company.

The writer is ‘well aware that the authors of the free and candid disquisitions will be humbly suggesting, in their canting way, whether some of these figures may be altogether suitable to the original design of that sacred rite, at which they assist on these occasions; and whether, if our British ladies are too nicely modest to worship God with naked faces, they should not return to the ancient simplicity of a plain linnen or Sarcenet veil, after the manner of the Jewish females. But, besides that all impropriety is absolutely removed from these representations by the mixture of so much Scripture history, these Cavillers must be told that this is an old objection answered and baffled long ago by the pious and conscientious Dr. Swift (whose tender concern for the honour of the Church of England is well known) in a religious sonnet which closes with an elevated sentiment couched in the following couplet:

This bone of contention, apparently, lasted during a considerable period.

In the Lady’s Magazine for March 1776, a ‘Female Reformer’ addresses to the fair sex some ‘moral reflections’ on ladies’ fans, and draws attention to the loose, almost indecent, mounts ladies have to their fans at the present day, giving too much reason to suppose that a coarse, indelicate, and immodest picture is not so offensive to the view of the fair as prudence, virtue, and chastity could wish. ‘Not many Sundays ago, I was seated in a dissenting place of worship in the next pew to two young ladies, who appeared suitably attentive and devout; but, happening to cast my eyes on the fan mount of the youngest of the two, as she stood up in prayer time, I was really ashamed to see naked Cupids, and women almost so, represented as sleeping under trees, while dancing shepherds and piping fawns compleated the shameful groupe. What a pity it is that any lady should seem to countenance immodesty or indecency in the least degree, especially in the house of God! Would it not have been much better for ladies to have no fans at all, than to have such mounts to them, as, on beholding, tend only to inflame the passions, and promote the loosest ideas?’

Evidently this protest bore good fruit, as, three months later, a church-fan of chaste design appeared. This gives, in the centre, a diagram of a good woman’s heart, divided, as a phrenological diagram divides the brain, into the several virtues or attributes, as Charity, Humility, Chastity and Honour, Virtue and Truth, etc. etc. Above the heart appears a drapery inscribed, ‘The Address of a Scripture Looking-glass to every Woman’—this consisting of the following texts: Proverbs xxxi. 30; 1 Peter iii. 3; 1 Timothy iv. 8. At the two extremities of the fan are scrolls with ‘a description of a good woman,’ and a poem entitled ‘The Wish’—this latter being a prayer and supplication to the Almighty to

The whole design enclosed in a scroll with a rose and honeysuckle filling the intervening spaces. Printed, as the Act directs, for J. French, No. 17 Holborn Hill.

In May 1796 ‘the new church-fan’ appears, a much more pretentious design, engraved in stipple, and ‘published with the Approbation of the Lord Bishop of London.’ The Ten Commandments are given in the centre, with the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed on either side; these are alternated with medallions of angels, above which are prayers for the king’s majesty and the royal family. At the extreme top of the fan is a figure of the Holy Spirit with three cherubs, the whole being enclosed within an elaborate border formed of royal crowns and Prince of Wales’s feathers.

Mindful of the protest of the ‘Female Reformer’ in the Lady’s Magazine, although perhaps somewhat belated (it will be remembered that the ‘naked Cupids and ladies almost so’ were observed in a dissenting place of worship), the ‘chapel-fan’ appears, in July of this same year, 1796, having in the centre a large medallion of the resurrection of a pious family, after a picture by the Rev. W. Peters, inscribed, ‘Glory to God in the Highest,’ and on either side smaller medallions representing ‘St. Cecilia’ and ‘The Infant Samuel at Prayer.’ The fan is further inscribed with a morning and evening prayer and two hymns—‘The Example of Christ,’ and ‘On Retirement and Meditation.’

A number of fans were from time to time issued with subjects from Scripture history, doubtless for church use, as ‘The Birth of Esau and Jacob,’ in which we have an illustration of Rebekah in bed, attended by female servants; ‘Moses striking the Rock,’ Published by M. Gamble, according to the late Act, 1740; ‘Paul Preaching at Athens,’ etc. These, however, are extremely weak productions, exhibiting none of that sense of character distinguishing similar subjects treated by the Staffordshire potter of this and a later period.

Mr. Thomas Osborne’s Duck-Hunting records an event in the history of a bookseller of Gray’s Inn Gate, Holborn, at his country-house at Hampstead in 1754. A certain Captain Pratten, who had obtained some notoriety through his very particular attentions to the wife of Mr. Scarlett, an optician of Soho, ‘whose Microscope for viewing opake objects is still in use,’ but who, apparently, did not possess any microscope or optic glass through which he might view events which were sufficiently transparent to every one but himself, had proposed to Mr. Osborne that by way of house-warming he should ingratiate himself with the families of Hampstead, ‘then a Watering-place and very gay,’ by giving a public breakfast for the ladies and a duck-hunting for the gentlemen.

On the morning of the 10th of September of the year in question the company assembled, the broad panniered petticoats of the ladies making a very brave array, and, the breakfast and duck-hunting proving so successful, our waggish Captain, who had installed himself master of the ceremonies, mindful, doubtless, of his own private and particular duck-hunting, persuaded the vain and simple bookseller to prolong the entertainment, first by a cold collation and other diversions, and finally by a dance, in which the ‘younger part of the company tripped on the light fantastic toe till bedtime.’

As a souvenir of the event, the gallant and resourceful Captain further persuaded Mr. Osborne to have a fan engraved and presented to each of the lady visitors.

This is engraved on both sides; on the obverse, the duck-hunting, with the Captain and his innamorata in the immediate foreground; on the reverse, a general view of the house and grounds.155

Conversation- or speaking-fans are devices by which the different motions of the fan are made to correspond with the letters of the alphabet, a code being established by means of which a silent and secret conversation is carried on.

Five signals are given, corresponding to the five divisions of the alphabet, the different letters, omitting the J, being capable of division into five, the movements 1 2 3 4 5 corresponding to each letter in each division. 1. By moving the fan with left hand to right arm. 2. The same movement, but with right hand to left arm. 3. Placing against bosom. 4. Raising it to the mouth. 5. To forehead.

Example:—Suppose Dear to be the word to be expressed. D belonging to the first division, the fan must be moved to the right; then, as the number underwritten is 4, the fan is raised to the mouth. E, belonging to the same division, the fan is likewise moved to the right, and, as the number underwritten is 5, the fan is lifted to the head and so forth. The termination of each word is distinguished by a full display of the fan, and as the whole directions with illustrations are displayed on the fan, this language is more simple than at first sight might appear.

The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1740 prints the following effusion, referring presumably to one of the earliest of these fans:—

‘The Original Fanology, or Ladies’ Conversation fan,’ was invented by Charles Francis Badini, and published as the Act directs by Wm. Cock, 42 Pall Mall, Aug. 7, 1797.

A fanology fan, of different design but with the same directions, invented by Badini, was published five months earlier (March 18) by Robert Clarke, Fanmaker, No. 26 Strand, London.

The new conversation or tête-a-tête fan gives as a centre medallion Venus robbing Cupid of his Bow, with inscribed compartments on both sides, having reference to the Answer and Question of the Lady to the Gentleman.

The language of the fan has already been referred to in an earlier chapter, portions of the code being given. See Spanish fans, page 137.

Gypsy, fortune-telling and necromantic fans form a large class, and were common during the latter part of the eighteenth century. As early, however, as Aug. 3, 1734, a necromantic fan was advertised in the Craftsman as follows:—

A necromantic fan was issued by Gamble; ‘Dear Doctor consult the Stars,’ representing an old necromancer being consulted by ladies.

‘Gypsy’ fans are invariably arranged according to a regular principle. A medallion in the centre, of a Gypsy telling fortunes, the different cards, together with their significance, arranged in four rows over the general field of the fan, and at the top, or on the reverse, the explanation, or directions for telling fortunes. The ‘Gypsy Fan’ conforms to this rule so far as the medallion is concerned: in lieu, however, of the cards with their explanation we have a series of floral festoons, borders, etc., painted by hand. The fan ‘made by Clarke and Co., at their Warehouse, the King’s Arms, near Charing Cross, Strand, London. Inventors of the much esteemed sliding Pocket Fan.’156

The ‘Oracle’ has in the centre a wheel of fortune with two winged children on clouds, one of whom holds a scroll inscribed ‘Oracle.’ On the sides of the fan the names of the ten greater gods and goddesses, in ten columns, the names disposed differently in each. On the lower part of the fan the ‘Explication’ of the Oracle, and ‘examples’ together with the questions, as—‘Whether one is to get Riches; Whether one will be successful in Love; What sort of a Husband shall I have’; etc. etc. On the reverse are heads of the gods and goddesses with their attributes, with ten columns of inscriptions, each containing ten answers to questions.

Pub. accord. to Act, Jany. 1, 1800, by Ino. Cock, I. P. Crowder & Co., No. 21 Wood Street, Cheapside, London.

The ‘Wheel of Fortune, by which may be known most things that can be required,’ presents us with a variation of the foregoing. The wheel occupies the centre of the fan, with four female heads representing—1. Bath Gypsy. 2. Norwood Gypsy. 3. Corsican Gypsy. 4. York Gypsy. On the one side of the fan, ‘Phisiognomy,’ with directions how to read it; on the other, ‘Perilous Days,’ with a prognostication of the date and manner of death of Napoleon, viz., by suffocation or drowning, at the latter end of 1810 or beginning of 1812. J. Fleetwood, Sc., 48 Fetter Lane.

An interesting class of fans is that illustrating popular and fashionable resorts, entertainments, etc., as Bartholomew Fair, Bath, Ranelagh, Vauxhall Gardens, the Crescent at Buxton, etc.

Henry Morley, in his interesting Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair, has given us an amusing description of the fan sold in that annual saturnalia, where Henry Fielding once had an interest.

The humours of the piece are mainly technical. Our Bartholomew artist, having his own views of perspective, has carefully economised the number of his figures and left out at discretion bodies or legs in the treatment of which he was embarrassed. Thus the leg of a drinking-stall serves also for the wooden leg of a bibulous person standing by. A man with, apparently, but one arm, salutes, in a manner at once distant and peculiar, an apple-woman, who lifts up her basket by the apples that are in it. Our artist, finding that the fourth stall of his machine ‘Ups and Downs’ would complicate his picture, has left it out altogether, and with a view also to artistic effect, has denied legs to the gentleman who is tasting his ale with so much relish, while the hot sausages (for these curious figures of eight are intended for sausages) grow cold upon his plate.

Pie Corner, with its delicate pig and pork, is depicted, with Sir Robert Walpole, orders and all, issuing from the shop.

The fan is engraved in mezzotint, the various subjects forming a very excellent mosaic of pattern: it was re-engraved and published by J. F. Setchel in 1829, and was accompanied by a description of the fair, in which the date of 1721 was assigned to the original. This and other inaccuracies being first pointed out by Henry Morley, who showed that the Droll of the siege of Bethulia, containing the ancient history of Judith and Holofernes, with the comical humours of Rustego and his man Terrible, said to be performing in Lee and Harper’s Booth, was not presented at that famous establishment until 1732.157

A version of the well-known print, after Canaletto, of the Rotunda, garden, and buildings at Ranelagh is given on a fan in the Schreiber collection, engraved by N. Parr, 1751.

A view of the Crescent at Buxton also appears enclosed in an oval medallion, with the inscription, ‘Crescent, Buxton.’

The following advertisements relative to these subjects appeared in the Craftsman:—

‘June 15, 1734.

‘Just Published. By Jonathan Pinchbeck, Fan Maker, etc.
(accurately delineated on a Fan Mount)

‘The Humours of New Tunbridge Wells; being a Draught of the House, Gardens, Well, Walks, etc., with the different Airs, Gestures, and Behaviour of the Company, and all other rural Entertainments of the Place. Taken from the Life: by an eminent Hand.’

‘July 2, 1737.

‘This day is Published

‘The new Vaux Hall Fan; or the rural Harmony and delightful Pleasures of Vaux-Hall Gardens; with the different Air, Altitude, and Decorum of the Company that frequent that beautiful place; done to its utmost Beauty and Perfection.

‘Whereon is shewn the Walks, the Orchestra, the grand Pavillion, and the Organ, which far excels any Thing of the kind yet offer’d to the Publick.

‘Sold at Pinchbeck’s Fan Warehouse, etc.

‘Where may be had, The Dumb Oracle; and the Royal Repository, or Merlin’s Cave; and all sorts of Fans of the newest Fashion, wholesale or retail.’