Folding fan, paper on bamboo, China, 1885
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1885
A folding fan, paper on light-coloured bamboo guards and sticks. The guards lightly incised with figure scenes and calligraphy, the fourteen sticks left plain. The leaf is of paper heavily flecked with gold and backed with silk. The leaf is decorated with a fifty-six character poetic inscription in running-hand xing shu followed by fourteen characters in li shu .
Following the inscription is a seal in red, the two characters Yi Yong in European-style cartouches surmounted by a European-style coronet. Beneath this is the signature ‘Jiegang’, the style of Zeng Jize (1839-1890). A paper label with the fan reads: “Written by the Chinese Ambassador at the Chinese Kiosk, Fisheries Exhibition”.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
A full manuscript translation of the inscriptions, by Robert K Douglas of the British Museum, is contained in the Registered File number 1981/728. Zeng Jize was in England for negotiations in 1885. See biography in Arthur Hummel's ECCP ( Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period ) for further details on his career.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Paper on bamboo sticks
- Dimensions
- Length: 31.7 cm
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- China
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O486485
- Museum object name
- Fan
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- FE.33-1981
- Museum system number
- O486485
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.