2-985-078 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Folding fan decorated with figures, c.1790. Made with a double sheet of paper; round, cut-out dotted engraving representing a seated woman and lovers with a chinoiserie figure with silk clothes on either side, on an open-work frame of bone. This fan is a European imitation of a Chinese type, which had developed in Canton during the 18th century. These Cantonese fans, which were sought after because of their small figures with faces meticulously painted on ivory, were called 'a hundred faces' fans. Unlike their Chinese examples, the characters on the European imitations not only have a face but also a neck of ivory. The clothing of the warrior and the female is composed of glued pieces of satin and mother-of-pearl. The chinoiserie-like effect is emphasized by the exotic-looking environment in which these figures are placed. Possibly decorated by Francis Wheatley.