Provenance:
Private Collection, The Netherlands
Condition Report available
€ 3,500
This object can be viewed in our gallery.
Toward the end of the 17th century, fans began to reach Europe in significant quantity. The British East India Company ordered them as part of their supercargoes. In 1697/98 they imported 48,387 fans, in 1699/1700 the number had already increased to 214,761. In the second half of the 18th century there was a light decrease in popularity with a new resurgence of interest towards the 19th century.
Fans were a wide spread accessory and came in different types. The folding fan (shan), the brisé fan (hu shan) and screen or fixed fans (pien mien). The folding fans, were practical as they could collapse into a slimmer shape. Brisé fans were a type of folding fan, had individual open work leaves of a harder material such as ivory or wood, which are perforated or pierced. Fixed fans, which had one static shape, were initially not intended for the western market, but became very popular. These fans were less practical to export as they were more vulnerable than the folding variety, because of their frames with taut silk and embroidery, feather or ivory embellishment.
Mandarin Pattern Fans
Around 1800 fans often portrayed typical scenes of elegant Chinese figures in outdoor settings, often drawn from Chinese opera or literature. This popular type of décor was initially made in Canton and is now known as a Mandarin Pattern or Hundred Faces decoration. Such fans were made of painted paper or silk, which could be further embellished with embroidery, ivory or paper appliqué. They would be painted very dark blue or green with pink and occasionally with garnet-red or plum. These vivid colours would have been too bright for the Chinese, but much admired in Europe.
· Catalogue, Oriente en Palacio, Tesoros Asiáticos en las colecciones reales españolas, España, 2003, XIV.15 & XIV.16
· Carl L. Crossman, The China Trade – Export Paintings, Furniture, Silver & Other Objects, Princeton, 1974, pl. 187
· Anna Ellerton, Heavenly Breeze, The Edrina Collection of Qing Dynasty Chinese fans, Chinese Export fans and European fans, Hong Kong,
pl. 46 (further reading: p. 22-27)
· Charlotte van Rappard (et al), Closer to China, Heeswijk, 2014, p. 56
· Ake Setterwall, Stig Fogelmarck, Bo Gyllesnsvärd, The Chinese Pavillion at Drottingholm, Mälmo/ Allhem,1974, 167, FE201
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