The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-06-13
Origin and Handling Of Pans.

terms, where the beautiful han-Ei,
daughter of an eminent mandarin,
found herself SO hot that, contrary to
all etiquette, she was obliged TO take of
her mask, with whicn-y 70 hide
her bushes, partly to cool her heated
face-she commenced upon herself the
process which we now call flaming"
The action was seen and admired by
KANSAS young companions; and at
once, says the narrator Of this truthful
legend, 10000 hands agitated 10000
masks" Other writers have discover.
ed che origin of the fan in the necessity
felt in all hot countries for keeping of
dies, whether from sacred offerings in
the temples or 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 fan is said to have been the wing
OF a bird; and an admirable fan can be
made fros4 wO birds wings, Joined by
a strip of wood. The fan Of the high
priests Of Isis was in the form Of a half
circle, made of feathers Of different
lengths. Such, too, were the fans car
ried in triumphal professions, and
which among the Egyptians, served as
military standards in time of war. The
Sibyls are said to have been in the habit
of tanning themselves as they dc liyered
their oracles-the fan being evidently
not regarded in those days as in any
way connected with frivolity. The
fans carried by the Roman ladies were
not, like the most ancient Chinese fans,
made in ono piece, whether of paper,
gauze, or silk, but were composed of
little tablets of perfumed wood. The
ladies of high fashion were followed
when they went out walking by fam
bearers or flabelliferG, and guests of
both sexes were famed at dinner by
slaves charged with that part!c%-r
duty. tarlimk reference to ians
en the paF of classical author occurs
in E%uripides' tragedy of "I'slena,"
where one of the characteTS a eunuch,
relates how, according to the tnTygianv
custom, he has famed the n..r t,cc, I
and bosom of the beautiful helu.1eA
The fans of the middle ages Ncr
good society worn suspended from The
girdle by chains of gold, and were u,u-
ally made of feathers; those of the pea
COCK, ostrich, parrot and pheasant being
preferred. They were sold in large mum
bers at the markets of the Levant,
whence they were sent direct to Ven
ice, and from there to other parts of
Italy. The fan is said to have been in
PRODUCED in France by Catharine de
Medicis, where it was q qickly adopted
not only by women but by effeminate
men, Thus Henry HIS, notorious
miguons habitually carried fans. Under
Louis XIV. and XIV, the art Of paint
ing ornamental fans was brought TO
great perfection. Among the celebra-
ted painters who haye not disdained to
employ their talents in the artistic de-
coration of the fan, Vatican and and
his successor, Boucher, must first be
named. In our own time Diaz, the
great cOlorist; Eugene Lami, chiefly
known by his marine pictures; Hamon,
the painter of scenes from ancient Ro-
man life; and Cavern, celebrated as a
,ea~ricaturist, but who has exercised his
talent in almost every style of pictorial
art, have all painted fans. The
famous sculptor and decorator of fans
in the present day is Froment Meurice,
generally known as a goldsmith and
jeweler, but who is in fact a great ar
fist. The French Fanmakers' Com
-pany was established by edict in 1888,
yhon TO be received into the guild or
! ~ operation it was declared necessary
to + le served four years apprentice
ship, aud to have produced a ''master-
piece. The masterpiece, however,
vas not required of the SOM of fanEa-
kers, nor of apprentices who had mar
ried fanmakers' daughters.
A great number of processes are EN-
plOyed in fan making. The frame has
to be cut, shaped, polished, trimmed,
engraved, inlaid, painted, gilt, and riv
eted. The web has to be printed,
gummed, colored and ~retouched. Yet
after passing through so many hands
,$9ns can DO sold in Paris at one sou
apiece. This is the lowest possible fig
ure; the highest quotation, except in
5 ,pecial cases, as where the talents of a
great painter are called into requisi-
Mon, beng $400. Fans are broadly di-
vided into two classes, those consisting
oS one web of paper or silk, and those
which are made up o~fseveral thin strips
of wood or other material. The former
are held to be the best for tanning, the
latter for shufling, or for the manGu-
vre known in the days of the "Specta-
tor" rs ''HirtIng' the fan. 1t was dur
the reign of Elizabeth, about the year
1870, that fans were first imported into
England. They are said to have been
brought from Italy, but probably reach
cl England from France, where they
came into fashion about 1860 by Cathe-
rlne de Mcdicis.
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