Thursday, October 28, 2010

Object of the Day: An Antique Chinese Fan

Bright white feathers have been mounted over the gem-tone hues of peacock feathers and hand-painted with a scene of a couple in Han Dynasty costume surrounded by cream and coral-colored roses and greenery. Set on wooden sticks pierced in a Chinese style with a neatly carved guard, this fan still sports its original braided loop and tassel.


Fans like this were made in China for import to England. During the Edwardian era when peacock feathers were all the rage, fans like this would have been purchased for display in the home as opposed to actually being used. The Chinese created myriad attractive decorative items for import to the United Kingdom. As styles leaned toward Chinoiserie and the aesthetic and naturalistic ideals of Asian art, the English public gobbled up items like these.

Markings on the reverse of the fan case indicate that it spent some of its life in England. Part of the original markings have been covered over with a sticker that places it as having been deposited in an art gallery in Arizona for awhile. I’m not sure how it ended up in Texas, but I’m glad that it did. It now hangs over the door to my study where it adds a shock of brilliant color against its dark background.

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