A cream and black silk fan with a pastoral decoration of a little boy shepherd playing the bagpipes. It has black ribbon and jet decoration on the handle and was possibly a mourning fan from about 1900.
This is part of a new display in our Hidden Treasures Cabinet. Also included are fashionable accessories such as purses, gloves and a feather boa.
The Language of fans
The fan has been a part of history as long as 4,000 years ago, but it was in Japan and China that the folding fan was created. Fans were brought to Europe through trade routes in the 16th century and became an important fashion item, with elaborate designs and materials reflecting wealth and good taste.
However, they became much more than accessories for fashionable ladies in the eighteenth century. There were used to express a range of emotions without the need for words and the communication was all in the way a woman held her fan and subtly used it to convey her feelings. They were also used to attract the attention of men.
Drawing the fan across the cheek was said to mean ‘I love you’, twirling it in the left hand signalled ‘We are being watched’ and dropping it meant ‘Let’s just be friends’.
The Hidden Treasures Cabinet can be found in the side gallery behind Reception.
