The sun., 1910-05-23

An EaFiS and Necessary instrument q
Manllnd.

Manklno.
BpoR ~ SaiuFday RsViSN
Ths fan. 10 modern Europe q woman's
dainty weapon. an instrument Of coauetry.
is thing of high lineage and august de-
scent. Liks 90 many Of our pTiAed poe
sessions. t WAs adopted from the East. Il
comes nom lands Of heat and sunshine.
Thsre In remote agss No hnd Il not - the
nuttering symbol Of lively heartbeats. 60
centing quick turns Of feeling oT interpret
ing -aAahss Of silence with mute Wit, but
- the solemn appAnagS Of power OT sacred
10 priestly usage.
Il vas tho instrument, on the Ons hand.
Of the winnower: on the other. Of thoas whose
once 4 Was 10 keep slowing the life Of irs.
We do not wonder. therefore, that like other
thinEs Of lighter function it passed into the
ritual Of religion. wAs Indispensable 10 tho
DiOnyBia and Was borne by the vestAl Vir-
gins. Later Il served In Christian cere-
monlal But this was not Of course the
folding fan Of modern use: Il was often Of
great size. and rigid. with pole for handle.
swayed slowly and In majestic rhythma.
The gorgeous plumes Of the peacock. vener-
ated as q sacred bird, with their hundred
eyes. the emblem Of kingly vigilance. Ap-
prOprtately enriched the fans signiacanoe,
Again. from is function Of making q cool
air. In the hands Of slaves, about great per-
aonagee, became Intimately associated
with that other emblem Of royalty and dis
tinction. the umbrella. itsef perhaps the
origin Of the symbolic halo
The story Of the fan belongs, Il will ha
seen, a. much a. sword or plOughahare 70
the vital history Of man and leads NJ hack
into many q bypath Of human tradition. be-
sides being fertile IN association With art.
10 n 20 japan. apparently, that We owe
the invention Of the folding fan, though the
palmetto leaf gives a natural suggest ion Of
u. Almost everything In the arts Of Japan
Il borrowing from China. but IN this case
u was China which borrowed from Japan.
Il seema natural that the invention should
come from the nimble witted Japanese.
but even with them Il has IL poetry. being
regarded with its radiating sticks as a
symbol Of expanding life. Nor must one
fOTEet the iron battle fans which ngure IN
20 many prints and pictures Of the heroic
struggles Of the Middle Ages When the
great Taira clan was driven to its last des-
perate stand on the seacoast. one Of these
fans, black. with a red sun for centre, was
fixed on the masthead Of a boat In which
beautiful woman reclined a. an arrogant
challenge to the enemys archery. The
feat OF the warrior who rode into the -ea
and drawing his bow shot away the rivet
which held the iron sticks together n .
favoFite theme for artists.
NNuAnFFu NAf NNuSN SUNNY W.
mates, preserves primitive and popular
forms Of tho fan. haR shaped or circular In
plated straw such AZ Italian or Portuguese
peasants uae for tanning charcoal fires
feathera. too, have been used In all coun-
tries But the history of the fan a. Ne know
u. the folding fan. capable 81 20 many re-
flnements Of craftsmanship. the Joint handi-
work perhaps of q scOre Of different crafts
men, and carrying sometimes delicate mas
terpiecea Of the painters huiah-the history
of this centres AZ We might expect In France.
n Vatican did not paint fans b. ought to
have painted them. TIE may have done 20.
but there seems 20 h. no authentic specimen
from his hand ihnCret. Boucher. fraEo-
nard-it seems incredible that these too
should not have seized upon 20 art and con-
genial a form for their decorative art. But
though the spirit Of theae masters IA re-
neCted on the fan paintings Of this period
We can point 20 no classic examples a. rivals
10 thOae other classics Of the Far East, the
mounts adorned By the aery brush % kOrin.
the exquisite calligraphy Of KOyetsu. the
genial design Of Hokusai. For similar cre-
ations Of the actual brush Of q FragOnard
or Vatican would We not sacrifice even the
sentimental associations that perfume fans
once owned BY La Valliere or Marie An
toinette?