®
By MARY COMBS
Smithsonian News Service
“<The first fan was probably a leaf,
clasped by a human seeking relief
on a pre-historic summer day.
Today, on the rare occasions when
modern air-conditioning fails us, we
make do with theater programs,
hats, newspapers - and convenient
vegetation. The sight of a woman
with a fan in her hand is rare
indeed. But it was not always so.
“Fans are fascinating,’”’ says
Lenore Gershuny, curator of ‘Fan-
fare,” an exhibition at the Smith-
sonian’s Renwick Gallery in Wash-
ington, D.C. “They are really very
practical devices, yet they have
such charm and beauty - and such a
romantic history.”
““The oldest type of fan is the rigid
“handscreen” - probably evolved
from that prehistoric leaf - made of
painted wood or fabric or feathers
mounted in a handle. Such fans
‘have been employed through the
¢enturies not only to cool their users
in hot weather, but also to shield
ladies’ faces - and wax-based make-
tip - from the fire.
The folding fan, with its radiating
sticks bearing a ‘‘leaf”’ or ‘mount’
of paper, skin or fabric, came from
Europe, also from the East, four
centuries later. ‘‘Brise’’ folding fans
carry no mount: The sticks, bound
together by a ribbon, form the
whole fan.
The cockade fan, which dates
back to medieval times, is some-
thing of a hybrid. It is made of
broad overlapping sticks or of
pleated paper which can be spread
into a full circle; when open, it
becomes a round handscreen.
“When Pocahontas posed for her
portrait in 1616, dressed as the
fashionable Virginia planter’s wife
she was, she held a feather fan of
the handscreen type. But in 1675,
one John Hall wrote from London to
his mother in Ipswich, Conn., in
reply to her request for a feathered
fan, “none but very grave persons
(and of them very few) use it.”’ The
folding fan had supplanted the cock-
ade and handscreen as the fan of
choice. It was to be an indispensa-
ble item in the wardrobes of 12
generations of well-dressed women.
The painted fans from Italy prized
in the late 17th and early 18th
centuries were not only practical
and decorative. ‘If conversation
lagged, you could always talk about
the image on the fan,” Gershuny
says. Fan painters took their
themes from paintings and frescoes,
and such classical topics as the
Rape of the Sabines and Diana and
Endymion provided plenty of food
for talk.
“By the mid-18th century, a
French fan was the thing to have -
partly because so many fine Italian
craftsmen emigrated to France,”
Gershuny says. Decoration becomae
light, with an emphasis on pastoral
scenes, aristocrats at play or
romantic subjects.
Europeans also became fasci-
nated with the Orient, although “the
Orient they painted was a fantasy,”
she adds. During the vogue for
‘“chinoiserie”’ and on through the
19th century, Oriental workmen
accommodated the fantasy by cre-
ating for export millions of fans and
fan sticks - many of them exquis-
itely beautiful, but bearing no
resemblance at all to the fans
Church fans displayed suitable
themes from the Bible. “One of the
Smithsonian’s church fans from the
period displays the edifying scene of
»braham sacrificing Isaac - but it
also has peep holes in it so the user
could look at her neighbors, yet
maintain a pious postrue,” Ger-
=
were common: Many travelers
returned from the Grand Tour with
fans depicting sights such as the
“1789 eruption of Vesuvius.
of both the painted fan - a perfect
marriage of intricately carved and
gilded sticks with delicately colored,
embroidered and sequined leaf - and
of the art of its manipulation.
‘‘What daring bard shall e’er
attempt to tell, the powers that in
this little engine dwell?” asked one
poet. “What verse can e’er explain
its various partrs, its num’rous
uses, motions, charms and arts? Its
shake triumphant, its virtuous clap,
its angry flutter, and its wanton
tap.”
Satirist Joseph Addison pro-
nounced in 1711: “Women are
armed with fans as men with
swords, and sometimes do more
execution with them.” (The quote
remained so timely that Benjamin
Disraeli borrowed it more than a
century later.) ‘There is scarce any
emotion in the mind which does not
produce a suitable agitation in the
fan,” Addison asserted, and pro-
posed an academy to teach ‘‘the
exercise of...that modish little
machine.”
Although Addison’s academy was
fictitious, no doubt ladies of his day-
-and their Victorian great-great-
granddaughters after them - prac-
ticed in front of their mirrors.
In the 18th century, courting cou-
ples had little if any privacy. A
“language of the fan” made it
possible for a lady to deliver a
variety of specific messages at a
distance. For example, letting the
fan rest on her right cheek signified
“Yes,” on the left cheek, “No.”
Twirling it in the right hand meant
“I love another,” while putting the
handle to the lips said “Kiss me.”
There wasn’t much secrecy, since
the signals were common knowl-
edge. But an enterprising couple
could certainly have devised a pri-
vate code.
If the lovers could sit together, a
fan with questions and answers -
chiefly romantic - inscribed on the
sticks or mount made it possible to
carry on a silent conversation
simply by pointing to the appropri-
ate phrases: “Do you care?” “Per-
haps.”
Good quality printed fans became
available in the mid-11th century.
These were especially suited to
commemorative or ephemeral sub-
jects. Whatever was news, from
ballooning to the bloody events of
the French Revolution, appeared on
fans. They bore political cartoons,
plans showing who sat in what box
at the theater, advertisements,
horoscopes and instructions for
complicated dances like the quad-
rille, where a misstep meant disas-
ter.
Puzzle fans were also popular.
Opened in the “wrong” direction,
these revealed hidden images -
sometimes salacious, sometimes
politically dangerous. After the
French Revolution, a Royalist lady
might carry a fan which displayed
the motto “Vive le Roi” - but only
when open to a specific point - or a
plain paper fan which, when held to
the light, revealed in the watermark
portraits of Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette.
The Revolution meant the demise
of the luxurious, painted fan, but
France continued to dictate the
fashions. In the very early 19th
century, spangled textile and gauze
fans had all the glitter - and none of
the politically dangerous connota-
tions - of jewels. Fans also dwindled
in size as well as importance with
the advent of the narrow, high-
waisted neo-classical fashions.
“Some were so small - two to four
inches long--that they were called
‘imperceptibles,” »’ Gershuny says.
Other fans were cunningly designed
to fold up or telescope; cockade
fans could be slipped into a small
handbag or carried unobtrusively.
Ivory brise fans, carved or plain,
were much in vogue - tiny ball fans
with uncarved sticks and a pencil
attached served as dance programs.
When fans again became impor-
tant to fashion in the 1840s, they
returned to the Victorians’ delight
in variety, profusion and eclectic
ornament.
Sticks thickened, partly because
of heavier design values, partly to
support the weight of elaborate tex-
tiles and embroidery. Fans also
grew in size. By the 1880s, they
were often 16 inches long. That
meant a spread of nearly a yard
when opened. Needless to say, rapid
manipulation of such creations was
¢
difficult if not impossible. The
artistry of 18th-century coquettes
was not revived, although the lan-
guage of the fan was published by
ers’ enjoyment.
Any fabric or material that could
be used in a fan was, from exquisite
lace to rubber. Painted fans came
back in vogue, and period fans were
copied and imitated - some with
obvious flaws, some so well that,
like one fan in the Smithsonian
collection, they have been mistaken
for authentic 18th-century work.
Godey’s Lady’s Book provided
readers with instructions for creat-
ing handscreens, cockade and fold-
ing fans. (Those who recycled old
sticks left a legacy of confusion to
collectors.) One article began:
“Firescreens composed of the wings
pretty and useful...The wings must
be cut off when the bird is fresh
killed.”
The Victorian passion for feath-
bird populations, was not confined
to women’s hats. Fan makers stole
plumage from the exotic peacock
and the humble turkey. One folding
American eagle; a screen fan dis-
plays a hummingbird mounted in its
center. The beautiful ostrich feather
fans which came into fashion in the
span.
The first World War dealt a lethal
blow to the way of life that held a
place for the fan as a work of art,
an ornament and a feminine prop.
designed for practical cooling, for
advertising the virtues of such spon-
sors as Moxie and Pan American
tume or the exotic dances of Sally
Rand. The flapper had plenty to
occupy her hands - her cigarette
holder, cocktail glass and handbag -
and the working girl's fingers were
firmly planted on her typewriter.
The change in women’s lifestyles
proved to be permanent. But one
can still be intrigued by the fan's
beauty and the days when women
were mistresses of that ‘modish
little machine.”
LEGAL NOTICE
The Dallas Borough Zoning
Board will meet on Wednesday
August 29, 1984, at 7:00 p.m
at the Dallas Borough Building;
25 Main St., Dallas, for the
purpose of discussing a request
for a variance for a sign for
outdoor advertising from Park
Outdoor Advertising
31-2-P
Buscher Trumpet good
cond. $100; coats and
prom gowns, various
colors andsizes, coats
sizes 6-9, gowns sizes
1-7, $10-$40. 675-3086.
18-tfn-P
9x15 Good Year
Tracker Tires mounted
on white spoke
wheels 5x15. 639-5492.
17-tfn-P
Sofa & 2 Livingroom
Chairs good cond. Call
after 5 p.m,. 675-3380.
3 Pc. Livingroom Suite
good cond. Ideal for
home, cottage or
hunting cabin $100. Call
675-0345. 28-tfn-P
2 Twin Beds White
$70; 19" RCA portable
color TV, needs some
repair $75; dark wood
coffee table $20;
livingroom chair $10.
288-1506. 28-tfn-P
pr
ads 3
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
Remington China
Base Lamp white and
gold rim, 24’" tall, 100
percent perfect, cost
$125 will sell for $35;
love sat, gold and green
print bvelvet, $60;
dishes, vases and
glassware. 283-1732.
Genuine Mahagony
Grandfathers Clock
with chimes, perfect
cond. Call 655-1376
after 5 p.m. 28-tfn-P
Blackberries Bring
baskets and pick 50c
' qt.; red raspberry &
blackberry plants 50c
ea.; blue spruce trees,
50c ea.; white
dogwood, chestnut
trees $2 ea. 675-3057.
29-tfn-P
20” Roadmaster
Convertible Bicycle
$30; 24’ Huffy bicycle
$20. 639-1990. 29-tin-P
3 Wooden Chairs, 3
folding chairs, Kero-Sun
heater, Coalman stove,
GE air conditioner,
antique maple dresser,
manual typewriter 696-
2068. 29-tfn-P
4 Pc. Brushed Dar,
Brown Velvet
Sectional $150; new
cane-backed tufted
velvet bench $100; 18"
chiming wall clock, $55;
stereo console w-
casette 8 track player
and recorder $115;
diningroom table and 4
charis, $50; 4 Hummel
bells $325; 4 Hummel
plates $325. 675-4471.
28-tfn-P
Tappan Electric Range
$125; General Electric 2
Speed Washer with mini
wash $125. Call 675-
4244 or 675-1402. 23-
tfn-P
Ice Machine side by
side Admiral
refrigerator; King size
bed with frame; tables
and wooden restaurant
benches, electric deep
fryer. Call 639-1929. 18-
tfn-P
Two New White
Wedding Gowns size
10-12. Never worn,
$100 ea. 824-8701 or
675-4383. 18-tin-P
FOR SALE
RCA 25” Colored TV
Console with AM-FM
radio, record player,
good cond. Best offer;
set of automobile chains
for 14’ wheel, $5. 287-
7838. 28-tfn-P
Vanity with sink, top
and faucets. 696-3017.
28-tfn-P
2 Studded Snow Tires
H78-15, $50 set; gas
Kenmore dryer, 22,000
BTU-HR Input $75;
homemade table for
sewing machine, 2 drop
leafs and drawser $30.
822-9941. 28-tfn-P
Maternity Clothes
summer and winter, size
11-12; $2.50 to $7.00;
baby clothes, infant to
toddler $1.00 to $10.
Some new items, others
all good cond. 298-
2347. 30-tfn-P
Refrigerator $30; car
radio and speaker, $10;
back-to-school clothes,
$1. ea. 12 yr. old and
up; white metal base
cabinet $20. 639-2415.
31-tfn-P
EDITOR
FOR SALE
Bathroom Sink &
Vanity and shower
curtain (solid) with brass
looking trim. 287-4462.
21-tfn-P
12 Tonka Toys Good
cond. 288-0932. 31-tfn-
P
8 HP Crusader Briggs-
Stratton Engine ride
on lawn mower, 30"
cut. 824-7330. 31-tfn-P
Full Size Mattress &
Box Spring. Exc. cond.
call evenings 675-1675.
31-tfn-P
1 Metal Bed free
mattress $35; large
modern dresser, 12
drawers, $40; 3 old
fashined dressers, $35,
$40; dressing table with
mirror $15; 1
rockergreen upholstered
$15. Call 256-3029 after
9, daytime Sat. & Sun.
31-tfn-P
Scandia Woodburner
Ben Franklin type $300;
2 aluminum storm doors
with glass louvres $60
for both; 1 aluminum
screen door, $20. 675-
2163. 31-tfn-P
Sylvania Stereo 2
speakers, record player
portable type, perfect
cond. $15; ple lamp
ceiling to floor, 4 lights,
$5.; hanging lamp white
and gold, $8.; Irwin
Electric Heater, $10;
dishes, vases, glasses,
moving, must sell. 283-
1732. 16-tfn-P
Schwinn Bicycle--dirt
bike type, suit age 9-12.
Good cond. $40. 675-
3317. 16-tfn-P
Woodstove Brand new,
never hooked up.
originally $460 selling
for $300. 675-2163. 16-
tfn-P
Girl’s Winter Coat with
hood, size14; boy's
winter coat with hood
size 12. Girl's
bedspread, full size w-
matching pinch pleat
curtains, 72''x63"’
green. 696-1716. 18-tin-
P
FOR SALE
Dog Coop For large
dog, $15. 829-3869. 21-
tfn-P
2 Bathroom
Commodes exc. cond.
$40 ea. 675-3342. 21-
tfn-P
New & Used Golf
Clubs. 693-1940. 22-
tfn-P
Electrolux Vacuum
Cleaner with all
attachments, Blessed
Virgin Statue. 693-3322.
31-tfn-P
Bausch & Lomb
Soflens Sterilizer and
travel case, used 4
months, $18. Call 288-
4842 before 2 p.m. 22-
tfn-P
Brown Naugahyde
Sofa, Loveseat &
Chair. Exc. cond. $600.
675-2325. 22-tfn-P
7 Pc. Pine & Plaid
Living Room Suite
very good cond. $350.
675-0094 after 4 p.m.
18-tfn-P
Girls Clothing New
and like new. Sizes 2-
14, lovely selection,
reasonable. Call
anytime, 288-2049 or
696-3969. 19-tfn-P
6-30’’ Sections of 6”
Domestic Double
Insulated Stainless
Steel Chimney and 1
clean out *‘t"" $150; 1
red free standing
fireplace $100; various
pieces of round pipe
duct. Make offer; Sears
Kenmore '79 portable
dishwasher, white with
maple butcher block
top. 675-4276. 23-tfn-P
New Modern Platform
Queen Size Bed,
dresser, night table;
Mediterranean bedroom
suit; living room suite;
cedar chest. 287-4869.
30-tfn-P
Upsy Cup Playpen
infant seat, bathtub,
high chair, carrier, boys
clothing newborn to 18
mos., 4 drawer
changer. Negotiable
298-2347. 30-tfn-P
14 weeks
® One Visit
607-772-8757
Moped Exc. cond.
$400. Call 675-0480.
25-tfn-P
Twin Head Boards &
Framework white
Provincial $70; dark
wood coffee table $25;
portable RCA 19°’ color
TV, needs some repairs
$50; Early American
livingroom chair $10.
288-1506. 25-tfn-P
Drapes blue with white
lining, 72x84, new $8.;
3 prs. white drapes
50x45, $3. pr.; 1 pr.
drapes antique satin
lined 50x90 $7. new;
tatted edged pillow
cases and sheets to
matc, table linens and
napkins. Never used. All
very reasonable. Must
sell. 283-1732. 19-tin-P
Gas Dryer $25. 696-
1222. 19-tfn-P
Dining Room Table
With 4 Chairs and 2
armchairs, steel slides
and 3 leaves, buffet to
match, like new. White
3 piece bedroom suit,
like new. Combination
color TV-radio-Stereo,
very good cond., card
table, washer and dryer.
675-2379. 19-tfn-P
Olivetti Adding
Machine $30; tires, $5.
ea.; Spaulding golf
clubs & bag, $50; brass
fireplace screen $45; 2
royal blue cord twin
bedspreads, $5. ea.; 1
pr. Holly Hobby Priscella
curtains, 63" with
matching tier, 36"’ and
matching twin
bedspreads $15 total.
696-3192. 19-tfn-P
4 Piece Redwood
Patio Set 2 chairs, 1
loveseat, 1 table, no
cushions. Good cond.
$40; 15x15 livingroom
rug, burn orange, $60.
287-2247. 20-tin-P
19.6 Frost Free
Upright Freezer, white,
exc. cond. $200. 675-
2602 evenings, 6-9 p.m.
20-tfn-P
Moving Sale 3 pc. rust
livingroom suite $450,
poker table with 4
chairs, $75; various
dressers, stereo
components, JBL
speakers, charcoal grill,
antique bottles, 2 scuba
tanks, misc. household
iterns. Call 639-5835
after 9 a.m. 20-1fn-P.