Osječki zbornik, Vol. Vol. 26 No. xx, 2002.
Professional paper
Collection of fans in the Applied art department of the Museum of Slavonia
Radmila Biondić
; Muzej Slavonije Osijek
Abstract
A fan is a very interesting object has been in use for ages, but its use today is rare and mostly symbolic. It originated as a utilitarian object and for a long time it was representing unavoidable eddition to the clothes. In a certain period (16th - 19th ct.) it was a very popular object, following the needs and changes of the society.
It has been present in all parts of the world and has appeared in many different shapes. In Europe it is mostly present as a folding fan, which had its predecessors in the Far East, in China and Japan. We distinguish two major types of folding fans.
Plested fan has one-fold or two-fold plaited leaf supported by narrowed rib endings - fixed at the back side or put into the slits of two-fold leaf. It was mostly made of silk, but also of other fabrics, paper, lace, and parchment paper. The span of the leaf has varied from 120o to 360o at the cockade fans. An interesting shape of the leaf has been a real challenge and offered numerous possibilities for decoding, which resulted in great creative swing in fan workmanship. The leaf was mostly painted in tempera, gouache or watercolour; different printing techniques were used (copperplate engraving, stipple engraving, wood engraving, lithography), as well as application •of different materials on leaf surface. The ribs were also decorated, often extremely beautifully, mostly made of ivory, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl or wood.
Brisé fan appeared somewhat later than pleated fan. It is composed of single ribs, mostly of the same length, which fold up. They are fixed by a small nail at the bottom, and mostly made of ivory or wood, but also of tortoise-shell, bone or paper; and decorated with painting, engraving, incrustation or piercing. These fans were smaller than other types.
These two types are the most popular ones in Europe, but there are many others like: cabriolet fans, "two-faced" fans, articulated fans, fans with "spy holes", telescopic fans, multipurpose fans, etc.
France was a leading country in the production of fans, together with England. In the beginning of 20th century the interest for fans started to decrease. Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, realized a good production. Many fans were imported from China (especially in 17th andlSth ct. when "chinoiserie" was fashionable). If we have that in mind, together with the
fact that different people in different towns and countries were producing fans, it is clear that it is difficult to follow all the ways of fan development.
A group of fans in the Collection of clothes and fashion accessories in the Museum of Slavonia in Osijek consists of 60 examples; some of which belong to the old holdings, while the others were bought or donated. A larger number of fans (14) belonged to Mathilda Hengl, a very special person of wide cultural interests. These fans are the most beautiful and the most valuable ones.
These fans were mostly bought in France and Italy, where they were probably made. Viennese fans made fan purchase easier and cheaper when our region was concerned. The exact period of production and provenance cannot be exactly determined because only three fans in our collection are marked.
Most of the fans in the collection originate from the second half of 19th ct. and the beginning of 20th ct. and thus belong to the period of historicism i.e. period of various artistic tendencies of that time. A whole range of variations appeared, resulting in extreme decoratively. The use of different materials contributed that fact even more. Thus, the main characteristic of that period is heterogeneousness. All the major fan types are represented in the collection. Most of the fans (24) are the most popular ones -pleated fans. They have been made in different materials and decorated in different art techniques, with leaves mostly made of silk and painted in tempera or gouache, with obligatory decorative editions: floral decoration, gilding. The most valuable and the most beautiful exhibits are: Cat.l; Cat. 2; Cat. 3; Cat. 12; Cat. 16). Fans with lace leaf are represented in our collection with several exhibits, but the one made in Paris in the end of 19th century (Cat.13) should be mentioned as a special one. We can also find the cheaper ones with paper leaves, very popular at that time (Cat. 20; Cat.21) or those of extremely decorative purpose (Cat 17 was probably a wall decoration; Cat. 18 could have been a screen for the fire-place). Some are unusual (Cat. 19 looks like bouquet of flowers) or rare (Cat. 44; Cat. 45 from China and Japan). Pleated fan ribs, made of ivory, mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell, but mostly of wood, were in some exhibits made to impose themselves to the woing (Cat.l; Cat.3) or to be in balance with it (Cat.2; Cat. 12; Cat. 16), but most are very simple with very few decorations.
A smaller group consists of brisé fans (17). Some have the upper part shaped like a leaf and are mostly simple. They are made of ivory, tortoise-shell, paper and wood and decorated. They were mostly made in the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century.
A small brisé fan from the old museum holdings (Cat. 23) maybe represents the oldest fan in collection. With its dimensions (16 cm), shape and decorations, it is similar to the English brisé fans from the beginning of 19th century. We could find analogy in the fans from Castle Museum in York, England (Alexander 1984:50), and contemporary material analysis could discover that it has been made of horn and probably an imitation of tortoise-shell (the above mentioned English fans were made of bone or horn). We shall leave that question open.
Two brise fans are decorated with initials and are beautiful in their simplicity: one is made of ivory with initials in darker colour of ivory (Cat. 25), and the other one is made of tortoise-shell with gilt initials (Cat. 26).
Fans made of feathers, mostly ostrich, are represented in the Collection with eight exhibits. We should mention a fan made of tortoise-shell and small humming-bird feathers with colours from blue-green to red-purple, as it is a very precious and beautiful exhibit (Cat. 43). Two identical ethnographic fans are also among rarities in this Collection. They probably originate from Egypt, and their almost circular shape followed the material they have been made of: brushwood, sharp branchless and painted paper impregnated with multilayer gluing.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
164459
URI
Publication date:
5.12.2002.
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