The marriage between Prince Frederick, Duke of York, and Princess Frederica (1767-1820), eldest daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia, took place in Berlin on 29 September 1791 and was followed by an English ceremony, in the Saloon at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace), on 24 November of the same year. What appears to be the present fan, but with the original diamond-set gold guards replaced, was included in a description, published in the Public Advertiser for 19 January 1792, of the 'costly decorations worn by her Royal Highness [the Duchess of York] at the Drawing Room yesterday'.

'The Fan - we give precedence to this article, it being contestedly the most tasteful, elegant and brilliant thing of the kind that ever was manufactured in this and we need not add, any other country in Europe. The whole is of pierced ivory held together with coquelicot ribbon, the carving of which speaks a knowledge of sculpture equal to what the best Academical products of marble exhibit. The outside sticks, in exception to the ivory, are of gold, in the form of a chain, closely set with diamonds with which they are also bordered; . . . in the interstices of the chain are roses of diamonds, fixed with a kind of mosaic work, transparent also. The inner sticks of ivory, when open, exhibit an oval medallion of His Royal Highness the Duke of York in relief a correct likeness and of masterly execution; over which is an imperial crown - on each side in the same style appear the arms of their Royal Highnesses, quartered, on an antique shield over which is a crown also. The value of this elegant ornament is estimated at eighteen hundred guineas.'

As the present guards appear to be contemporary with the fan, they may have been made as replacements for the original diamond-set guards at an early date. In place of diamonds, the present guards are decorated with cut-steel beads, as produced for use in jewellery and other accessories at Matthew Boulton's works in Soho, Birmingham, from the early 1760s.

The quality and intricacy of the ivory carving in this fan is indeed extraordinary. An entry among the accounts of the creditors of the Prince of Wales (later George IV) in 1795 for '1 Rich Pierced and carved Ivory fan ornamented with the Portrait of H.R.H.' at £21 may refer to a companion fan, with the portrait of the Prince of Wales, the elder brother of the Duke of York; the fan was supplied by William Cock of 42 Pall Mall on 12 April 1795. This description, together with the January 1792 account quoted above, is one of the few relatively detailed records of fans acquired by members of the royal family at this period. The subsequent history of the present fan is unknown until it was transferred by Queen Mary to the historical collection of fans at Windsor in 1927.

Text adapted from Unfolding Pictures: Fans in the Royal Collection, 2005