We have seen how, during the period of the balloon petticoat, the fan, like the frog in the fable, anxious to outdo his big neighbour the ox, swelled—and swelled—and swelled. The consequences were less disastrous in the case of the fan, which is nothing if not consistent. The small imps of the fan tribe carried by those truly miraculous creatures the Merveilleuses, whose costume was reduced to such exceedingly scanty proportions that a Frenchman even was moved to inquire if nudity would not have been a gain to modesty, were in perfect keeping with the tout ensemble. The fan lessened its proportions, grew more and more imperceptible as the rest of the costume grew scantier, until, as in the example in the collection of Mr. L. C. R. Messel, the blades measured but two and a half inches!

CHAPTER VIII

PAINTED FANS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES. ENGLISH, DUTCH, FLEMISH, AND GERMAN.

LONG-HANDLED FEATHER-FAN
(Used in the Marie Stuart dance.)

The history of the folded fan in England may, broadly speaking, be said to date from the establishment of the East India Company in 1600; this event marking the commencement of that Oriental trade which assumed such vast proportions during the succeeding century. Isolated examples of the pleated fan had, however, found their way into this country earlier, these either brought by individual traders from the East, or imported from the Continent of Europe. We have already referred to the remarkable instance of the pleated fan appearing on the great seal of England, forming the crest of Cœur de Lion; a conclusive proof that this form of fan was at any rate known, if not in occasional use, in this country during the Middle Ages.

The plumed fan, nevertheless, held its own for a considerable period, although it is extremely unlikely that it was much in vogue before the reign of Henry VIII., when we are informed that ‘even young gentlemen carried fans of feathers in their hands, which in wars our ancestors wore on their heads.’117 Shakespeare refers to ‘those remnants of fool and feather that they have got from France.’ So, also, Stephen Gosson, Pleasant Quips for upstart Gentlewomen, 1596:

The author of Quips for an upstart Courtier, 1620, drawing a comparison between the degeneracy of his time and the purer manners of an earlier period, says: ‘Then our young courtiers strove to exceed one another in vertue and in bravery; they rode not with fannes to ward their faces from the wind.’

In Hall’s Satires, 1598, describing the dandies of his day:

In the play of Lingua, or The Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority, 1617, the following directions are given for the character of Phantastes at the head of the second scene of Act II.

‘A swart complexion’d fellow, but quicke-ey’d, in a white Satten doublet of one fashion, green Velvet hose of another; a phantasticall hat with a plume of fethers of severall colours, a little short Taffata cloake, a paire of Buskins cut, drawne out with sundry coloured Ribands with Scarfes hung about him after all fashions, and of all colours. Rings, Jewels, a Fanne, and in every place odde complements.’

In the woodcut headings to the Roxburghe Ballads (c. 1635), both feather- and folding-fans are shown; the frequent illustration of these instruments testifying to the popularity of the fan at this epoch. The first appearance of the modern fan, says Fairholt, may be seen in a print of the early part of the seventeenth century. The long handle is still retained, and the fan, although arranged in folds, does not appear to be capable of being folded. The fans here referred to are those seen in the prints by Vecellio and earlier engravers, small in size, referred to and illustrated in a previous chapter.118

It is not until the last decade of the sixteenth century that the folded fan appears in painted portraits, one of the earliest being that of Queen Elizabeth at Jesus College (1590), in which the Queen holds a découpé fan of the character of that illustrated from Cluny, facing page 109, having similar pointed edging.

The edges of these fans were occasionally varied to a semicircular form, a curiously interesting example appearing in a portrait of Elizabeth, Lady Wentworth, by Lucas de Heere, in which the leaf, probably of vellum or parchment, is elaborately découpé; the edges resembling a cheese-cutter in shape, the blades, apparently of ivory, numbering seven.

The patterning often rivalled the finest lace, of which it was obviously an imitation, lace also being used for fan mounts at this period, usually costly Flanders or Valenciennes. In the series of prints by Hollar of the Four Seasons, 1641, the veiled lady representing ‘Summer’ holds in her right hand an opened lace fan, the quaint legend at the foot of the plate running as follows:

The marriage of Charles II. with Catherine of Braganza in 1662 is another landmark in the history of the fan in this country. The Queen and her Portuguese ladies introduced the gigantic green shading fans of Moorish origin, which, in the absence of parasols (then unknown in England), served also to shield the complexions of the ladies from the sun, when they did not wish wholly to obscure their charms by putting on their masks. The Indian trade, however, opened up by Catherine’s marriage treaty, soon supplied the ladies of England with fans better adapted, by their lightness and elegance, to be used as weapons of coquetry at balls and plays.119

Large numbers of fan mounts were also imported from Italy, both at this period and later. These are referred to incidentally in one of Steele’s letters to the Tatler, April 23, 1709. ‘I am just come from visiting Sappho [probably Mrs. Elizabeth Haywood, who had been some time on the Irish stage]. As I came into the room she cries, “Oh, Mr. Bickerstaff, I am utterly undone; I have broken that pretty Italian fan I showed you when you were here last, wherein were so admirably drawn our first parents in Paradise asleep in each other’s arms.”’120

The fan of Pope’s epigram was, it will be remembered, painted with the story of Cephalus and Procris, the motto ‘Aura Veni.’

Two fine examples of early fans with subjects from classic mythology appeared at the Walker sale; the first having a skin mount painted with the Triumph of Amphitrite, in which the daughter of Nereus is seated in a shell drawn by dolphins, with attendant nymphs and tritons, a figure of Cupid, blindfolded, hovering above; this in allusion to Neptune having sent the Dolphin to intercede for him, and to bring his innamorata from the foot of Mount Atlas. The stick is rosewood, inlaid with rays of mother-of-pearl. The second, from the collection of the Duchesse de Nemours, representing the marriage of Neptune and Amphitrite, the subject covering the whole field of a deep mount; the stick, mother-of-pearl, carved with a pastoral scene and smaller panels of warriors.

Among the earliest English fans existing in private collections is a mount of the time of Charles I., the original stick of which is said to have been of gold, jewelled. The painting, a copy of the ‘Triumph of Bacchus,’ by A. Carracci, is attributed (probably erroneously) to Peter Oliver. The fan was given by the Princess Anne (afterwards Queen) to her god-daughter, Sarah Robinson, daughter of Sir John Robinson, Master of the Tower, and widow of the eldest son of Sir Humphrey Gore, on her marriage, in 1696, with John Harvey, Esq., of Ickwellbury, Beds. It is an example of a large class of fan mounts produced at this period, which were reproductions of the works of the greater Italian masters, many of which were, doubtless, copied by Italian artists, and either exported to England, or acquired in Italy by visitors to that country.

Two interesting marriage fans of the period of Charles II., both painted by the same hand, appeared at the Walker sale in 1882; the one, ‘An Ancient Marriage,’ with the bridegroom presenting ring, the bride wearing a floral chaplet and attended by maidens with distaff and flowers; the stick of ivory, carved with emblematic figures, mother-of-pearl inlay, and silver piqué. The subject of the other (Achilles and Deidamia) referring to the taking of Troy; on the reverse a view of the park at St. Cloud; the stick, mother-of-pearl, carved with subjects emblematic of marriage. These, doubtless, were made by the French fan-makers who had become domiciled in England, and probably, as Mr. Robert Walker suggests, for important court personages.

It was upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685, that the French Huguenots being obliged, through the persecution of their compatriots, to quit their own country, sought refuge in England as well as other countries, where they were received with open arms. Amongst these were a number of éventaillistes, who established an industry, having brought with them, not only the money they had been able to save, but what was still more valuable, their skill as workers, their habitual diligence and thrift. ‘The countries whither they went were enriched by the arts and trades which the French refugees introduced, and still more by the examples of industry, probity, and sincere piety which they exhibited in their own persons.’121

In 1709, upon the ‘humble petition of the Ffanmakers that exercise the Art and Mistery of Ffanmaking in London and Westminster and Twenty Miles round,’ a Charter of incorporation was granted by Queen Anne, providing that ‘all Ffanmakers within the prescribed area, and all persons who have served, or shall hereafter serve, as Apprentices to the said Art and Mistery by the space of seven years, and who hereafter, from time to time, shall be Admitted into, or made free of the Society, shall be one Body Corporate and Politick in Deed and in Name, with a common seal, with power to hold lands, and power to sue and defend the same. Power to make bye-laws touching the good estate, Rule, and Government of the Society, and for the Reformation of such abuses and deceits as shall be found to be committed by them either in uttering or making bad and deceitfull works, as also in their several Offices, functions, Misteries, and business touching the said Trade,’ etc.

During the latter half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth centuries the importation of fans into this country from India, China, and the East was considerable, and, together with the Italian importation, already alluded to, threatened to ruin the home industry. The fanmakers addressed themselves to Parliament, and demanded its prohibition, with the result that a tax of forty shillings a dozen was imposed upon all wooden- and feather-fans, and for a time the importation of all painted fans was prohibited. In 1750 there appear to have been disputes between the Fanmakers’ Company and journeymen fanmakers on account of non-payment of quarterage. Two interesting items of information appear in the Gentleman’s Magazine for October and December 1870 as follows:—

‘On the 28th ult. was try’d a cause between the Company of Fanmakers, incorporated by Charter for the Cities of London, Westminster, and twenty miles round, plaintiffs, and one Wagstaffe, defendant, for quarterage due to them, who was ordered to pay it with costs.’

‘On the 28th ult. was a tryal in the Court of Requests, Westminster, between the Company of Fanmakers, plaintiffs, and some fan-painters, defendants, for non-payment of quarterage, which was determined for the defendants, it appearing that they were not legal members of the said Company.’

The two following items will serve to show the extent of the fan industry in the middle of the eighteenth century, and the adverse conditions under which it laboured.

‘A writer in the Westminster Journal for February 23, 1751 (quoted by the Gentleman’s Magazine for the same year), proposes a tax upon plain and printed fan mounts. Painted ones not coloured to pass free as before. A sixpenny stamp to be affixed in the midst of a plain or printed paper fan mount, and a shilling stamp on a leather one. This may produce a revenue of ten, twenty, or thirty thousand pounds per annum, encourage a very ingenious branch of business, and only hurt about half-a-dozen paultry plate printers, who are enriching themselves and starving of hundreds.’

The Gentleman’s Magazine for November 1752 quotes an advertisement which appeared in the Daily Advertiser, ‘from the poor unfortunate artificers in the several branches of the fan trade, whose number is nearly 1000; returning thanks to the Company of Fanmakers for petitioning the E. India directors to discontinue the importation of fans. To excite the regard and compassion of the ladies, it asserts that the home-made fans are in every way preferable to foreign; and that by discouraging the latter, they will relieve a number of unfortunate families from the most grievous distress and despair.’122

‘On the 7th February’ (Gentleman’s Magazine, March 1753), ‘the journeymen fanmakers presented the Princess Dowager of Wales with a beautiful and elegant fan, far superior to Indian fans, which was most graciously received.’ This, doubtless, with the idea of obtaining patronage and support for the home-made article.

The imported fans were for the most part sold by tea-merchants and dealers in Oriental wares.

A trade card in the Schreiber collection, British Museum, with an elaborate engraved portrait of Queen Anne, states that John Roberts at the Queen’s Head in Holborn, near Hatton Garden, London, sells all sorts of Fine China Ware; the finest Hyson and Congo Teas, Fine Double Flint Drinking Glasses, etc., and India Fans.

The fan makers also often combined the trade of fanmaking with the sale of millinery and stationery. The Banks collection of Shop Bills includes the following trade card:—

‘Robert Pickeard, at the Swan and Golden Fan in Cheapside, near the Conduit, London.

‘Mounteth and Maketh all sorts of Fans, and Selleth Silk Gauze and Silver Handkerchiefs, Caps, Girdles, Ribbons, Roles, Wiers, Ferrits, Silver

Lace for Shoes, white Buttons for Shirts, Silk and Ferrit Laces, Masks and Necklaces.

‘N.B.—Any Merchant may be furnished with all kinds of Milenary Wares at Cheap Rates.’

Also we find Honour Chassereau, Fan Maker and Stationer, Fan and Crown, Long Acre, London, ‘selling all sorts of Stationery Wares, Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation.’

The principal enactments for the regulation of the import trade in fans and materials of the fan are here enumerated:—

By the 11th Geo. I. cap. 7, calpins for fans are rated in the Custom House books at 7s. 6d. a dozen, and the duty paid on importation 1s. 5d. and 7/8ths a dozen.

If made of leather, and the leather be the most valuable part, for every 20s. of real value upon oath, the duty is 6s.

By the 12th Charles II. cap. 4, fans for women or children, of French make, are rated in the Custom House books at £2 per dozen, and the duty £1, 5s. per dozen. But if these fans are painted, they are prohibited to be imported, and are seizable as painted wares. The laws regulating the importation of embroidery are still more stringent.

By the Acts Richard III. cap. 10, 3rd Edward IV. cap. 3, 19th Henry VII. cap. 21, 5th Elizabeth, cap. 7, 13th and 14th Charles II. cap. 13, 4th and 5th William and Mary, cap. 10, 9th and 10th William III. cap. 9, 11th and 12th William III. cap. 11, embroidery imported is forfeited, the importer liable to £100, and the seller to £50.

The various materials, as gold and silver thread, or wire, lace fringe, work made of copper, brass, or any other inferior metal, imported, to be forfeited and burnt, and £100 paid by the importer of every parcel so imported. This under 4th Edward III., 10th Anne, cap. 26, 15th George II. cap. 20, and 22nd George II.

By the 6th Anne, cap. 19, silks wrought or mixed with gold, silver, or other materials, clandestinely imported, are forfeited, with £200 for every importer, and £100 by the receiver, seller, or concealer.

It therefore appears that either mounts, or fans that are painted, are seizable; and that all fans or mounts embellished with gold or silver are prohibited under very severe penalties, particularly under 4th Edward III., and 15th and 22nd George II. Further, paper fan-mounts could not be imported without paying a duty of 55 per cent.; the duty on plain fans being 27-1/2 per cent., or, if imported as toys, 37 per cent.

In a table of fees taken by packers and water-side porters for shipping and landing the goods or merchandise of strangers, second charter of Charles II., 1660, ‘For a load of fans, one shilling.’

The vogue of fans became general during the first half of the eighteenth century, when fan-painting was a most lucrative profession. The sculptor Nollekens tells us that when his wife was a girl, her father’s intimate friend Goupy (a well-known water-colour draughtsman who died in London in 1763) was considered the most eminent of the fan-painters, and that fan-painting was then so fashionable that the family of ‘Athenian Stuart’ (so called on account of his exquisite studies of Athens) placed him as a pupil to Goupy, conceiving that by so doing they had made his fortune; and we learn from other sources that Stuart originally gained his livelihood by painting fans.

A fan-mount in the Schreiber collection is painted with three medallions of Roman views, The Arch of Constantine, The Arch of Titus, and The Forum, the field of the fan decorated with delicate classical grotesques and border, signed ‘Jose Goupy, 1738, N.A.’ The views are skilfully drawn in pen line with wash, in the style of the water-colour draughtsmen of this period, i.e. a low-toned scheme of colour, a good deal of india ink being used. This signed example is of the greatest value in determining the character of Goupy’s work, and it is extremely probable that he was responsible for a good many mounts generally considered as Italian. It was from Goupy, too, that Stuart originally derived his interest in classic architectural remains, and, doubtless also, much of his skill in depicting them.

Fans had, indeed, at this period become an indispensable adjunct to a lady’s toilet, a temporary loss of this instrument, upon occasion, causing much perturbation of spirit. An amusing story of such a catastrophe is told in The Gentleman’s Magazine for April 1736:

Madame had come to grace the ball with her charming presence, her powdered admirers crowding about her, while,

when, all on a sudden, Her Ladyship confounds the company by appearing in furious mood, with a voice like thunder, every one demanding the matter. Then the charming Celia, moralising, said:

The fan-shops of Fleet Street, the Strand, and Westminster are continually referred to in the advertisements which appeared from time to time in the Craftsman. The two following note a change of ownership:—

‘Feb. 6, 1741-2.

‘To be sold, at Gordon’s Fan warehouse, The Crown and Fan in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. All sorts of Fans. Wholesale and Retail, very cheap. The Person leaving off trade.’

‘Feb. 12 1742-3.

‘Gordon’s Fan Warehouse, in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. Mr. Gordon having left off Trade, the Business, as usual, is carry’d on by his late journey-woman,

Mary Hitchcock,

At the same Place, where Ladies may be accommodated with all sorts of Fans, at the most reasonable Rates.’

From the extremely naïve and interesting ‘fan-shop’ fan belonging to Mr. Messel we are able to gather some idea of what these shops were like. The inscription on the shop sign is ‘Fanmaker, London,’ showing that the district represented was within the London boundary of this period, c. 1745.

During the comparatively brief reign of Queen Anne fans were again made large. Sir Roger de Coverley, upon his courting the perverse widow, declared that he would have allowed her the ‘profits of a windmill for her fans.’123

With the proverbial fickleness of fashion, however, this vogue lasted but a short time; the fan lessened its proportions in the second and third decades of the century, when, during the forties, its size once again increased, following the lead of France. ‘Ventosus,’ writing in the London Magazine for 1744, quotes, with some amusing comments, an epigram by Dr. Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, originally written upon a white fan borrowed from Miss Osborne, afterwards his wife, and referred to by Steele in the Tatler for October 19, 1710:

‘The whole turn of this,’ exclaims our commentator, ‘depends upon the smallness and slightness of the Instrument—the least and lightest toy? Fans now in vogue are both monstrously large and monstrously strong. To say that a fan of eight or nine inches long, which, when extended in a semi-circle could not admit a string of more than fourteen or fifteen, wounds more than Cupid’s Bow, is somewhat extraordinary, but to ascribe the same excellence to one of our modern ventilators, whose Diagonal line, when it is full spread, is longer than one of the Bowstrings of our Hoxton Archers, is ascribing nothing miraculous to it from the fair Hand that may happen to use it.’

Our good Ventosus had witnessed an increase from ‘3 Quarters of a Foot’ to ‘even 2 Foot within this week past’; he looks forward to a still greater improvement when the fan would extend to the same distance as the fashionable Hoop. This would introduce ‘somewhat of uniformity in a Lady’s Dress, and the age would be agreeably engaged at either meeting or following a fair Toast, with both her sails spread, in observing the harmony between the Curve at Top and the Curve at Bottom,’ etc. Our ingenious friend discovers other uses for such an instrument—‘a lady might mount it horizontally, to skreen herself and Family against all the Inclemencies of the weather.’

Again, at the Playhouse, a good-natured lady may ‘have it in her power to oblige a whole Side Box by a single Puff, and prevent the Beaux, as well as the Belles, from fainting away at an extraordinary Pathos.’

The possibilities of such an instrument have, apparently, no limit—‘a Blast or two from this machine would be sufficient to whiff away to a convenient Distance all troublesome and worthless Danglers, who may attempt to besiege its fortunate possessor.’

Nay, besides private benefits, one of a national nature occurs to the mind of our imaginative friend—‘20,000 such fans, properly drawn up on the Shore, might blow back the next French invasion, or at least keep off the Enemies’ Fleet till our own had Time to come up.’

Our author might indeed, with strict adherence to truth, have included the beaux as well as the belles in this fanciful defence, with a proportionate increase in the probability of victory. Amongst the effects referred to in the inventory of a beau, who was carried off dead upon the taking away of his snuff-box, and remained unburied, his goods being taken into execution to defray the charge of his funeral—‘The strong-box of the deceased, wherein were found five billet-doux, a Bath shilling, a crooked sixpence, a silk garter, a lock of hair, and three broken fans.’124

In the postscript to Addison’s letter on the subject of his ‘Fan Academy’—‘I teach young gentlemen the whole art of gallanting a fan. N.B. I have reserved little plain fans, made for this use, to avoid expense.’125

At the dancing assemblies in London, Bath, and elsewhere, it was customary for the gentlemen to select their partners by the ballot of fans, which were placed in a hat, the owner of the fan drawn becoming the partner of the gentleman who drew it. Mrs. Montagu, in one of her letters, refers to this custom. ‘In the afternoon I went to Lord Oxford’s ball at Marylebone. It was very agreeable; and the partners were chosen by their fans, but with a little supercherie.’ A lady’s fan was almost as well known as her face, and it was not difficult, with a little contrivance, to know which to draw. The same lady, writing from Bath in January 1740, says: ‘Last night I took to the more youthful diversion of dancing, and am nothing but a fan (which my partner tore) the worse for it; our beaux here may make a rent in a woman’s fan, but they will never make a hole in her heart.’126

The popularity of the union of the ‘Orange Tree with the English Rose’ is abundantly testified by the number of painted fans issued of this subject. A painted bridal-fan of the Princess Anne, daughter of George II., married to the Prince of Orange in 1733, appeared at the Walker sale in 1882, and sold for £26. In this the Princess is seated, attended by the Loves and Graces.

The preliminaries of peace between Austria and France in 1748 provide a subject for a fan appearing at this same sale. The scene represents a tented field. Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, joins hands with la France, the rival banners inscribed—‘Vive Louis XV., and Vive la Reine d’Hungrie’; the English banner of St. George in front; at the back the victory of Admiral Hawke. This probably executed for an English partisan on the occasion of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.

A characteristic fan in the Wyatt collection, of the early part of the century, has a paper mount painted with merry-making scenes, persons dancing, drinking, musicians, etc.; the ivory stick carved à jour, painted with birds and flowers; the guards, mother-of-pearl, carved and painted.

Mr. George Augustus Sala, in his entertaining preface to the fan exhibition held at Drapers’ Hall in 1878, refers to a remarkably curious fan exhibited some twenty years earlier, at a congress of the Archæological Institute held at Worcester. This, evidently an English production, is a gouache on vellum, representing either the Great Lottery of 1714, or the equally remarkable gambling enterprise of 1718, when the popular greed of gain was stimulated to such an extraordinary degree that a million and a half sterling was subscribed.

The scene is the interior of Mercer’s Hall, Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside, where transactions connected with lotteries took place, showing the platform with side galleries conveniently arranged for a crowd of gay gallants and fashionable dames in the full costume of the period; the lottery tickets are in the course of being drawn by Blue-coat boys, a wheel on either side for blanks and prizes. The design, says our author, is identified with a contemporary engraving by H. Parr, ‘Les divertissements de la Loterie,’ designed by T. Marchant, drawn by Gravelot, and published by Ryland. Gravelot was a French engraver and decorative painter, invited to this country by Claude Dubosc to assist in illustrating a sumptuous history of the campaigns of Marlborough.

Of topographical fans, that owned by Miss Moss, giving a view of Kensington Square as it appeared in the latter half of the seventeenth century, is amongst the most interesting: it is extremely fresh in colour, and exhibits a quaint sense of decorative treatment.

A fan with a view of Cavendish Square is attributed to Canaletto, who in the latter part of his life visited London, where he was held in great estimation. The subject is enclosed within a cartouche, with flowers, etc., in the Chinese taste covering the rest of the field. The stick is of ivory, carved à jour, with figures, birds, and foliated ornament; the edges, when closed, form a subject in relief of birds, insects, and fruit, this being a device adopted both in Holland, France, and Italy, but especially in the first-named country. See page 202.

This fan appeared at the Walker sale in 1882, when it was acquired by the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

Spangles appeared about the middle of the century, following the fashion of France. These served as borderings to subject medallions, and emphasised the leading lines of the design. A characteristic fan of this period, 1750-1780, has either one or three medallions or cartouches, of pastoral or other subjects, with graceful figures reminiscent of Gainsborough, Hoppner, and other masters of the English school. These figure medallions were usually supplemented by smaller ones of musical or other trophies, dainty flowers, festoons, and borders, the mount being usually silk.

The sticks of these fans were narrow, the number varying from fourteen to sixteen, including the panaches, the latter delicately carved à jour. The material was generally ivory, but occasionally mother-of-pearl. The brins were perfectly straight and flat in the shoulder portion, but invariably richly decorated with embossed gold and silver work, this often taking the form of a cartouche extending over six or eight of the sticks, spangles also being freely used.

It would be difficult to discover a more perfect example of this class of fan, so peculiarly English in type, than the one exhibited at South Kensington in 1870 by the Baroness Meyer de Rothschild. In this the centre medallion represents a lady carrying a lap-dog, visiting a friend who is seated at an embroidery frame; on the inferior panels, a girl playing with a dove, and a boy with a bird-cage and a tethered bird. The mount is silk, with spangled borderings, the stick ivory, finely carved à jour, decorated in variegated gold; jewelled stud. (Illustrated facing p. 180.)

A number of fans were painted by Poggi, who was publishing engraved fans at this period, and whose fans enjoyed a high reputation. We find the following entry in Madame D’Arblay’s Journal for March 1781:—

‘Tuesday.—I passed the whole day at Sir Joshua Reynolds’s with Miss Palmer, who, in the morning, took me to see some beautiful fans painted by Poggi, from designs of Sir Joshua, Angelica, West, and Cipriani, on leather. They are, indeed, more delightful than can well be imagined; one was bespoke by the Duchess of Devonshire, for a present to some woman of rank in France, that was to cost £30.’

In the catalogue of drawings, etc., the property of Mr. Poggi, sold by auction by Messrs. Christie and Ansell at their Great Room, next Cumberland House, Pall Mall, on Wednesday, June the 19th, 1782, and two following days. Second Day’s Sale:—

‘DRAWINGS OF FANS

99. Hope nursing Love, by Mr. Poggi.

100. A Nymph nursing the Genius of Love, by ditto.

101. The Universal Power of Love, by ditto.

102. The Three Fine Arts, Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture: from a design of Angelica Kauffmann, by Mr. Poggi.

103. The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, by ditto.

104. The Universal Power of Love, by ditto.

105. Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, displaying her Jewels, by ditto.

106. The Three Fine Arts, Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture: an original drawing by A. Kauffmann.

107. A Nymph nursing the Genius of Love, by Mr. Bartolozzi.

108. Cephalus and Procris, with the portrait of Mr. Pope and the lady to whom he presented a fan with the celebrated lines in the Spectator, ‘Come gentle air,’ etc.: an original drawing by Mr. Cipriani.127

109. The Bust of Pope crowned by the Graces, who are admiring the beauty of his works: an original drawing by A. Kauffmann.

110. A Fan emblematical of Victory, composed by a Lady of Quality,128 by Mr. Poggi.

111. Venus lending the Cæstus to Juno: an original drawing of A. Kauffmann.

112. A Subject from the Etrusque: an original drawing by Mr. Bartolozzi.

113. Angelica and Medoro: an original drawing by Mr. Cipriani.

114. Hope nursing Love, by Mr. Poggi.

115. The Origin of Painting: an original drawing by Mr. Bartolozzi.

116. Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, displaying her Jewels: an original drawing by M(?) West.’129

Church-fans are referred to more fully in another chapter of this work (page 248). The painted variety gave such subjects as ‘The Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca,’ ‘Judith with the Head of Holofernes,’ ‘The Marriage at Cana,’ ‘Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.’ An early example appeared at the Walker sale in 1882, having a deep mount painted with the subject of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; the stick ivory, with the silver piqué ornament so popular during the reigns of Charles II., Queen Anne, and George I.

Mourning-fans are easily recognisable from their generally sombre appearance. In these, the character of the subject is apparently a matter of small consequence so long as the general colour scheme is that of a funeral card, viz. black, white, and silver. In the Wyatt collection is an example of about 1750 painted in black with a pastoral scene, the stick and guards ivory, painted in black in imitation of the Chinese.

The extraordinary popularity of Wedgwood’s jasper ware was not without its influence on the fan. The example in the possession of Lady Bristol has a richly carved ivory stick with medallion subjects of Diana hunting, etc., with amorini, terminal figures, and fauns, in imitation of blue and black jasper, the panels silver piqué. The mount is of silk, with centre panel in the style of Angelica Kauffmann, the border and ornaments in gold and silver spangles, with painted Wedgwood medallions again introduced. (Illustrated facing p. 176.)

It is not difficult to fix its date. Wedgwood had perfected his jasper process by 1777, and it may be taken that the fan was produced between this year and 1780.

The painted ivory brisé fans of the latter part of the eighteenth century are typically English, though derived from an Italian source. They are quite easy of identification, being invariably delicately pierced with a fretwork pattern, painted with medallions usually one superior and two inferior, and gilt, the gold being usually applied with the brush; the fan opening out to the third of a circle.