The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-13
ALOUIs oUINZE FAN.

Upstairs in grandmother's iron-bound
box where it has lain undisturbed for forty
years, lies fan. Its leaves are narrow and
either of kid or canvas painted with shep-
herds and shepherdesSeS disporting them
selves in an Arcadian landscape 1t is a
large fan and at the top of one of the sticks
is inserted small oval gold trimmed mirror.
Now is the time to bring that old ran down.
The older styles have come in and great is
their glory There are dainty fans mod
elled on the Empire fashions in the stores.
The newest of these are made of gauze with
inch wide cause ribbons or hsse bands run
ming across in rows, each row being painted
with vine pattern in flowers or with
cherubs' heads or some scrollwork notion.
They are very pretty, often in exquisite
taste, and nOtdear, but there is
not one of them which can com
pare with the genuine Louis Quinze fans in
those famous old Vernis Martin mounts
which time has not robbed of their lustre.
and which are now being unearthed raptur-
| ously from the old bric-a-brac shops and
auction rooms. Some of them have mounts
of nothing more substantial than paper,
| others are of silk or vellum, all are marvel
| lously painted with the smiling, simpering
MarQuesses, the powder and patches, the
| minute and delicate art, the graceful pretti-
ness of that pleasure-loving era. The SIM
pier of the antiques and the more numer-
Gus limitations of the soft pink and the blue
and the white of Dresden china landscapes.
The more elaborate and richer are wonders
of gilt.
The French have always been fan artists.
They are sending us just now most fanciful
connections in gauZe and lace. One of their
freshest ideas is the application of mother-of
pearl in flakes of microscopic thinness to
bring out the coIors of a winter landscape
in a black and white sketch or piece of
embroidery on gauze fan. Exquisitely
tinted gauzes are cut to the shape of rose pc
tails or apple blossoms and mounted on sticks
of mother-of-pearl The lace fan very COM
monty is lace only to its middle, the flmy
pattern being set in frame of gauze painted
with cupids or flights of birds. The gauze
fan as now seen makes point of showing
its sticks, which are worth the display, as
prominently as possible, each one, exquisite
ly carved or inlaid, running through the
mount to the very edge. The painted gauze
fan ranges this winter from the simple
wreath of flowers or spray of running vines
to the most exquisite designs which it is
within the power of art to command, ex-
traordinarv prices having been paid in some
instances to secure the touch of a famous
brush.
Fan collecting is becoming more and
more of fad. There is probably no single
collection of fans now in New York equal
W UQdU WHICH WIS OWutu ny mis-. aSiOI ,
and which was rich especially in Lonis XIV.
specimens. Mrs. Seligmann has several be-
longing to the same epoch and many beauti-
full ones are owned by the Vanderbilt
women. Mrs. Whtelaw Reid has one of
the most exquisite fans in the city, made of
white silk, embroidered in colors and orna-
mented with small pearls. Mrs. Coleman
Drayton has a vellum fan painted with a
scene from Spanish history and mounted OH
carved sticks of sandalwood. One of Mrs.
Whitney's fans has been greatly admired;
it is of valuable Point d'Alencon with
framework of gold. A chinese fan belong
ing to Mrs. Fred Vanderbilt is a marvel of
delicate work in ivory.
Fan fancies abound. The old fashion of
mounting a mirror on the front of one of
the sticks is coming in. Miniatures and
small pastel portraits are honored with the
same place. Gold and silver medaliions are
often seen. Sometimes a tiny watch has
the place of honor. The very latest prob
ably is bonbon box mounted as a medal
lion on fan. ELLEN OSBORN.