Occasionally - but presumably not in the present instance - the exchange of feather fans in the late nineteenth century had distinct romantic overtones. In the case of this Viennese fan the feathers are those of a capercaillie (a large grouse). According to an article in the New York Commercial for 23 November 1890:

'The latest craze of Viennese society is a passion for fans of mountain-cock feathers. The last question the young Austrian belle asks her admirer before he goes on a hunt is, ‘Won’t you try, please, to bag me a fine fan?’ An ideal fan of this kind must contain only feathers from birds brought down by the most expert shots, and every feather must be the lone representative of the giver’s skill; consequently, such a fan may record the admiration and skill of sixty or seventy hunters. It is not unusual to have cut in the ribs of the fans a brief account of the circumstances under which the birds were shot. The German Empress is said to have expressed a wish last summer for such a fan, and ever since that time the young bloods of the Austrian Court, who have already bagged fans for their own women, have been shooting right and left for the Empress’s sake. The handle of the fan, now being completed in Vienna, will be set with jewels in the Prussian colours.'

This fan was a wedding present to the future Queen Mary from Count Szapáry, and was described in the printed list of presents as a ‘mourning fan’. The front guard bears the bride’s initials (VM) set in diamonds, below an enamelled diamond-set coronet. Unusually, the silver loop is also set with diamonds.

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