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International Art Treasures Web Magazine February 2006 |
Unfolding Pictures:
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Unfolding Pictures spans from the early 17th Century to the 1920s and includes over 80 objects. Each item was either commissioned for or acquired by a member of Royalty and thus they are among the finest fans in existence. |
Title: Queen Victoria's Fan c. 1890
Image Courtesy: The Royal Collection © 2005, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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Highlights of the exhibition include a leather fan from around 1600, believed to have belonged to Charles I; fans by Duvelleroy and Félix Alexandre of Paris, the finest 19th-century fan-makers; three fans by Carl Fabergé, including one purchased by the Tsarina for her sister Queen Alexandra; two dolls’ fans painted by Marie Laurençin; and a vast ostrich feather fan, presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother by the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers at the time of the Coronation in 1937. |
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During the late 16th century fans had become a fashion accessory instead of only a practical item. Courtly attire included fans well into the 20th century. The styles altered with the times as developments in technology changed so to did the fan. It didn't need to be rigid as the ability to create a folding fan emerged. |
Fans were traditionally kept closed when one was before the monarch so the guard sticks, the outer portions of the closed fan, were richly decorated and often embellished with jewels. The jewels might illustrate the Royal owners' initials.
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European folding fans used world-wide materials such as bone, ivory, tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl. Between the fan sticks one would find the the ‘leaf’ which usually stretched when the fan was opened. |
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The leaf thus had to be a pliable material for example leather, vellum, paper, silk or lace. Not all fans were of this 'stretching' type the sticks could in some designs pivot and be enjoined with a ribbon at the top to create a functional item.
Title: The Abduction of Helen c. 1750
Image Courtesy: The Royal Collection © 2005, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Fans leaves provided an easel for artists to use to depict various scenes popularly romantic love though other themes such as ancient historic tales of morality, chastity, valor or stoicism. Later when they were inexpensively produced, during the 18th Century, fans could be used to transmit news, propaganda, or the latest fashions.
Title: Autograph Fan, c. 1887
Image Courtesy: The Royal Collection © 2005, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Victoria received a fan as a gift for her Golden Jubilee in 1887. It contained a blank leaf and Her Majesty encouraged her family and friends to sign this fan. Among those who added their autographs were King Edward VII, King George I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury.
Title: Queen Alexandra’s Ostrich Feather Fan, c. 1901
Image Courtesy: The Royal Collection © 2005, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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Many of the fans were passed down through members of the Royal Family. For example Queen Alexandra left her Ostrich fan to Queen Mary who in turn gifted it to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother to commemorate the latter's 1937 Coronation. |
Unfolding Pictures is the first ever exhibit of fans from the Royal Collection.
Unfolding Pictures Fans in the Royal Collection
Queen's Gallery Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland:
December 9, 2005 - May 29, 2006