Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-07
THE FAN EVOLUTION
An Accessory of Milady's
Toilet and It's History.
OF ALL COUNTRIES
CoLLAPsIBLE FANS INVENTED
WAY BACK IN 75o A. D.
A Clever Jap Was the Inventor
Romance and Senti-
ment.

These are the days when the fan reigns
supreme. OF course, fans of one kind
or another have been used in all hot
countries from the earliest time, and dur
ing the summer season in our own tenn
perate zone these wind waters come into
grateful commission. The housewife deco
rates her summer rooms with these pretty
trifies and lays them about in an artlessly
artful fashion for the comfort of her fami-
ly and guests, and In the prosaic business
office the electric fan brings comfort
For at least two centuries the fan has
been one of the most delightful accessories
of the feminine toilet, and my lady's latest
fad is to make collection Of Japanese and
French fans. The feminine collector must
be able to classify the oriental fan and
know the different forms of etiquette ex-
pressed by the Japanese affair, otherwise
she will talk learnedly of her seventeenth
century examples when the reign of this
little piece of coquetry really began in
France. 1t is an interesting study, this
evolution of the fan, even If one Is not
collector. China has been called the faith
erland of the fan, but there is a pretty
NEUROLOGICAL origin to be found in charm
ing Spanish legend which runs as follows:
AS Psyche was sleeping day on a bank
of flowers Zephyr kept towering over her
After a time Jealous Cupid took offense and
as punishment plucked off one of Ze-
phyr's wings and gave it to Psyche that
she might ever have cooling breezcs.
There is no doubt that the first fan that
COOLED a fevered brow" was a lotus or
palm leaf and this most common of all the
varieties, the palm, Is now manufactured
in immense quantities in China, especially
at Canton and Nankin. Al these places
fans of great elegance are also produced
from silk sandalwood, tortoise shell and
ivory. Chinese fans are usually richly
carved. Some of ivory are pierced with
olc ltolu raH W
a lace pattern in delicate epenwork. Others
have only the sticks and guards of ivory,
while on the body, which is of SILK, are
PAINTED in the most brilliant hues groups
of figures marvelously attfred.
In Ancient Times.
In Persia Egypt, Greece and Rome fans
were in early use. The Egyptians carried
a peculiar arrangement made of a bird
wing extended, while in Greece the round
peacock feather fan was the faVorlte. Ro-
man ladies appeared in public waiting thin
tablets of sandalwood, and lurid light is
cast on the customs of the middle ages in
Italy by the fact that several dainty fans
are preserved with concealed dagger in
the handle of each The fan first made
its appearance in England in the reign of
Richard II, and the virgin queen, the fair
Elizabeth is said to have owned no less
than twenty seven fans one handsome
specimen costing 500, a large sum in those
days. Elizabeth originated the custom that
the only gift queen could receive was
fan and truly worthy of royalty's accept
ance were these offerings. whose sticks
were made of mother-of-pearl or gold and
silver-studded with pearls, rubies and other
precious gems
The 18th Century.
During the eighteenth century fans were
in general use, and no woman, whatever
her station, considered her costume COM
plete unless a fan of some kind dangled at
her girdle. 1t was at this period that Addi-
son wrote his famous essay on the fan, a
little piece of writing said to contain
deeper insight into the frivolities, character
and foibles of woman than a modern
novel. To quote a line or two of this essay
| which is typical:
There is an infinite variety of motions
to be made use Of In the f1utter of a fan.
There is the angry futter. the modest
futter the timorous fiutter, the merry flut-
ter and the amorous nutter There is scarce
any emotion Of the mind which does not
produce a suita BILE citation of the fan.
have seen a fan so very angry that 1t
| would have beeen dangerous for the absent
lover who provoked it to come within wind
of It, and at other times so languishing that
I have been glad for the ladys sake that
, the lover was at certain distance from It.
The period at which Addison wrote these
charming lines was a time of intrigue, Of
powder, rouge and patches, and no lady's
toilet was really made without her elegant
fam lace handkerchief and vinaigret. The
| English fans of the eighteenth century are
Of exquisite workmanship. One favorite
decoration is of medallions representing
classical groups of figures watching doves
The coloring is after Angelica Kaufman,
| and much of the work was doubtless done
by this celebrated artist.
Climax of Use.
The folding fan was introduced into
France by Catherine de Medic. and this
valuable auxiliary of woman reached Its
height in the reign of Louis XIV. In the
hands of the powdered duchesses and mar
quises of the old regime 1t was weapon