Fan, watercolour on vellum, Flanders and China, 1700-1720

This fan is an excellent example of the way in which trade shaped the world of goods in the seventeenth century. It combines ivory sticks carved in China with a pleated vellum leaf painted in watercolours by a Flemish artist. Both elements reflect contemporary taste.

The fan depicts Belshazzar's Feast, a story from Old Testament Book of Daniel which tells how the Babylonian king Belshazzar profaned the holy vessels taken from the Temple of Solomon by Nebuchadnezzar. While the Persian armies were preparing to attack him, Belshazzar held a feast and used the holy vessels to serve his guests. In response to this profane act, a ghostly arm appeared and wrote a cryptic message on the wall of the banqueting chamber. The fan leaf depicts this moment. According to the Bible, it was Daniel, a Hebrew slave, who eventually deciphered the 'writing on the wall' to mean 'you have been measured and found wanting'.

Shortly after this incident, Belshazzar was killed by the invading armies and the new Persian king gave the Hebrews their freedom. Fan, ‘Belshazzar’s Feast’ of Watercolour on vellum; carved and pierced ivory (probably Loxodonta sp.) sticks and guards; turtle shell head (probably Eretmochelys imbricata, hawksbill turtle); metal pivot, Flanders with Chinese sticks and guards.