Hand fan, paper and ebonised wood, England, 1840
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca. 1840
Handle and stick are made of black ebonised wood; the stick is slender with slight turned mouldings. The screen or covering is green paper (or glazed calico?), circular, and works on a loose rivet. There is a green silk tasselled cord for tying. Joined in the middle by two small discs of mother-of-pearl. Registered File number 1929/10050.
From register: "With regard to the little folding handscreen, I remember as a small child in 1860, when I was sent to spend Xmas with some Great Aunts, seeing one very like it in use by one of the old ladies; not as a parasol, but to screen the eyes from the oil lamp which stood on the table (colza oil in those days).
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
There was, rather later, I think, a variation of the same idea in use, in which the circular screen was opened, stood on its own leg in a small weighted cylindrical base, on the table when folded up it retired into the base, which was made of brass. In this variation, however, there was no means of altering the angle of the screen, as in the one you have. I should imagine that 1840 would be about the date.
I resuced the screen many years ago from being thrown away with other odds and ends of my grandmother, Mrs. Charles Rogers." From the donor's letter dated Nov. 8, 1929.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Paper (or calico) on carved wood.
- Dimensions
- Length: 12.75 in; Diameter: 11.25 in
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- England
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-O366372
- Museum object name
- Fan
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- T.148-1929
- Museum system number
- O366372
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.