Fan — Souvenir fan from the Malvern Festival, belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, London, ca.1930
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca.1930
Fan in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number S.16-2019), made in London, dated ca.1930. The museum's brief description reads: Souvenir fan from the Malvern Festival, belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, ca. 1930, with unbroken paper seal.. Museum description: Souvenir printed paper fan, with guards and sticks of wood, the guards painted white, the sticks painted green, and a wire loop. An unbroken red paper band is wrapped round the fan to prevent it from opening. A label is pasted on one of the sticks, printed with the words, 'GREETINGS FROM THE MALVERN FESTIVAL and 'Supplied by G.A. Sawyer, Ltd. / 9 Hanover Sq., London, W.1'. The museum records it as Printed paper, painted wood and wire, measuring Length 21.3 cm; Width 1.7 cm; Depth 1.4 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
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
Souvenir fan from the Malvern Festival belonging to Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven, ca. 1930, with unbroken paper seal. The Malvern Festival was founded in 1929 by Barry Jackson, director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, working with Roy Limbert, manager of the theatre at Malvern. Jackson's festivals became an annual event. Initially devoted to the plays of George Bernard Shaw, they later expanded to include the work of other dramatists. The first festivals ran for a fortnight each summer, but by 1934 they were lasting for a month. Jackson was in charge until 1937, with Limbert directing the next two. The outbreak of war put an end to the festivals, and though there was an attempt to revive them in 1949, it wasn't until 1965 that the Malvern Festival was re-established. This souvenir of the Malvern Festival's early years was owned by Mrs Gabrielle Enthoven. From an early age Gabrielle Enthoven, née Romaine (1868-1950), was fascinated by the theatre. After her marriage in 1893 she began to collect press cuttings and playbills and, following the death of her husband in 1910, she became involved with the Pioneer Players, a feminist theatre company for which she wrote plays. As her collection of theatrical material grew, Mrs Enthoven became aware that no archive or museum was documenting the British theatre as she was doing. In 1911 she wrote to the Observer newspaper, beginning a campaign for the establishment of a national collection for the performing arts within an existing…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- paper, printing ink, wood, paint, wire
- Dimensions
- Length 21.3 cm; Width 1.7 cm; Depth 1.4 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Printed paper, painted wood and wire
- Place recorded
- London
Identification
- Museum object name
- Fan
- Museum object number
- S.16-2019
- Museum system number
- O1489328
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 catalogue references against a specialist reference.