The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-12
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF FANS.

fpall Mall Haaette.l

summer. r
Pail Mall aaaettel +
The London Fanmakers' Company, ob-g
serving with regret that the use Of the fan
has for some years past been on the declines
in England, propose to renstaLs it in public
favor by means OF an exhibition Of fans, l.
which is to be held this summer. The Britt
ish Mustlem possesses a valuable collection
Of ancient fans. which it doubtless might bs
prevailed upon TO lend for such purpose;
India Museum some interesting specimens
Of Chinese and Japanese fans, which woulda
figure with advantage In the projected dis
play.
i he fundamental idea of the fan Is said to.
have been hit upon great many centuries .
ago ut a certain Feast Of Lanterns, where thet
beautiful Kan Isl, daughter Of an eminent man y
DARN, found herself SO hot that contrary to-
all etiquette. she was obliged to take off her,
mask with which, partly TO hide her bushes
partly to cool her heated face-shs com nencsds
upon herself the PROCESS which ws now call
tanning" The action was seen and admired,
says the narrator of this truthful legend,l
10000 hands agitatsd 10000 masks" Other
writer's have discovered the origin of the fan
in the necessity felt in all hot countries for.
keeping of flies. whether from sacred Offers
ngs In the temples OF from the hands and'
faces Of the officiating priests or from the
persons of the population generally. In India,
and China the original model OF the fhn Isl
said to have been the wing OF bird, and an.
admirable fan can always be made from two
birds wings, joined by strip Of wood The
fan Of the high priests Of Isis was in the form
Of half circle. made Of feathers Of different
lengths. Such, too, were the fans carried in,
triumphal PROFESSIONS. and which, among thel
Egyptians, served as military standards In
time Of war. The Sibyls are said to have been,
In the habit Of tanning themselves as they de-
livered their oracles- the ian being evidently
not regarded In those days rs In any way CON
rtRfttE h ityfNlJ
The fans carried by the Roman ladies were
not. like the most ancient Chinese fans, made
IN Que piece, whether Of paper ga,lze, Or silk
but were composed OF little tablets OF per
TUNED wood. The ladies Of high fashion
were followed when they went out walking
by fan bearers or .fabeitfvr; and guests Of
both sexes were famed at dinner by slaves
charged with that particular duty. The
earliest reference to fans on the part of
classical author occurs in Euripides trag-
sdy of Helena where one Of the charac-
ters, q Gunuch, relates how according to the
Phrygian custom, no has famed the hair,
face and bosom Of the beautiful heroine.
The fans Of the Middle Ages were in good
society worn suspended from the girdle by
chains of gold, and were usually made Of
feathers; those Of the peacock. ostrich, par
rot and pheasant being preferred. They were
sold in large numbers at the markets Of the
Venice, and from Venice to other parts of
Italy. The fan Is said to have been intro
duCed in France by Catherine de MediGis
where 1t was quickly adopted not only by
Henry IITs notorious mignons habtually
carried fans. Under Louis XIV and XIV the
art Of painting ornamental fans was brought
to great perfection. Among the celebrated
their talents in the artistic decoration
of the fan, Vatican. and his success
sor, Boucher, must first be named. In our
own time Dlaz the great colorist; Eugene
Hamon, The painter Of scenes from ancient
Roman life: and Gavarni, celebrated as car
icaturist, but who has exercised his talent in
almost every style OF pictorial art, have oil
painted fans The most famous sculptor and
decorator OF fans in the present day is Fro
ment- Meurice. generally known rs gold
smith and jeweler. but who Is in fact n great
artist. The French Fanmakers' Company
| was establishesi by edict in 1853. when to be
| received into the guild or corporation 1t was
declared necessary to have served four years
apprenticeship and to have produced
MASTERPIECES" The masterpiece, however,
was not required Of the sons Of fanmakera,
nor Of apprentices who had married fan
makers daughters.
A great number OF processes are employed
in fan-maklng. The frame has to be cut
shaped, polished, trimmed, engraved. inlaid
painted gilt and riveted. The web has to be
printed, gummed, colored and retouehed. Yet,
after passing through SO many hands, fans
can be sold in Paris at one sou apiece. This
Is the lowest possible figure, the highest quo
tation, except In special cases, Ms where the
talents of a great painter are called into re-
| QUESTION, being $4O0. Fans are broadly divided
into two elasses-those consisting OF one web
of paper or silk, and those which are made
up Of several thin strips of wood Or other
material. The former are held to be the best
for tanning, the latter for shuf1lng. or for the
rnanu,uvre known in the days OF the "Spec-
tator' as "flirting' the fan
1t was during the reign OF Elizabeth, about
the year 1870, that fans were first imported
into England. They are said TO have been
England from France, where they were
brought into fashion about 1860 by Catherine
de Medicis.