-
1 of 253523 objects
Garter fan c. 1805
Blue plain weave silk leaf; japanned wood guards and sticks (2 + 16) | 20.0 cm (guardstick) | RCIN 25156
-
This fan may have been painted by one of the daughters of George III. The rather naïve painting includes a crown, the Garter Star and motto, with the words Windsor Installation and the date 23 April 1805, clearly associating it with the Garter Installation held at Windsor on that day. The fan may have been held by one of the royal ladies as they processed from the royal apartments in the Upper Ward to the service in St George’s Chapel in the Lower Ward of Windsor Castle. The 1805 Garter Installation was a particularly impressive occasion, the solemnity of the service only slightly marred by much pushing and shoving by those hoping to be seated. After the service a splendid banquet took place in St George’s Hall, but the royal ladies dined elsewhere.
Although in many ways a remarkable survival, this small silk fan is a typical product of the early years of the nineteenth century. At this period the size of fans reduced considerably, to harmonise with the narrower dresses and shorter sleeves of the ‘Empire’ period. The (now fragmentary) decoration of sequins, fixed with silk thread, would have glittered decoratively in both natural and artificial light.
Text adapted from Unfolding Pictures: Fans in the Royal Collection 2005Provenance
Probably Queen Mary; at Frogmore House, Windsor, before 1953
-
Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Blue plain weave silk leaf; japanned wood guards and sticks (2 + 16)
Measurements
20.0 cm (guardstick)