Miniature fan c. 1900
Leather (kid) leaf, backed with paper, mounted à l’anglaise; mother-of-pearl guards and sticks (2 + 8) | 5.5 cm (guardstick) | RCIN 25005
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This miniature fan belongs to a collection of around twenty tiny fans at Sandringham House, Norfolk, the country residence of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. It was almost certainly Queen Alexandra who acquired them. Such fans were made as presents given by fashion houses or fan-makers (such as Duvelleroy) to favoured customers as gifts for their children. It is unlikely that these fans were made for dolls, although the firm of Aubin in Paris advertised Petits éventails pour poupées et oeufs de Pâques in the years before 1914.
The fan is decorated with a scene from Watteau’s painting Les Plaisirs du Bal of c. 1715, now in the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Text adapted from Unfolding Pictures: Fans in the Royal Collection 2005Provenance
Originally purchased by Alexandra, Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra)
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Creator(s)
(fan maker)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Leather (kid) leaf, backed with paper, mounted à l’anglaise; mother-of-pearl guards and sticks (2 + 8)
Measurements
5.5 cm (guardstick)
Category