Fans evoke the vision of elegantly dressed ladies in bygone days hiding their faces seductively. Nowadays fans are more likely to be electrically driven appliances, but the romance of earlier times can be recaptured during the Christmas season by pleating gift warp paper into small and large decorative fans. Placed throughout the home, they create a festive environment with a unique and personal touch.
The earliest fan was probably a leaf waved about by a primitive man to cool himself on a hot day. Experts in the field of decorative arts conjecture that fans were in use in China before recorded history. As the centuries passed, the natural leaf fans developed into elaborate ceremonial objects that were carried at religious and court events. Specific designs indicated aristocratic rank and, in keeping with Chinese customs, decorations were always symbolic.
Inspired by the wings of bats, the Japanese invented the folding fan. The rivet that holds the fan together became emblematic of life's beginning, and the radiating sticks indicate the widening aspects of life's development.
In an unusual contemporary use, Chinese and Korean folk dancers emphasize their graceful motions by swirling handheld fans.
That fans were known in ancient Egypt is demonstrated in tomb pictures where slaves, cooling royalty, and high-ranking courtiers are shown holding large semi-circular fans on poles. Smaller fans, made from reeds and ostrich leaves, were turned into fly whisks to chase away insects.
The word fan actually derives from the Latin word vannus. This was a sturdy leaf employed by the Romans for winnowing grain. Agitating grain caused the light chaff to fly away and the heavy seeds to remain. The word vannus described both the agricultural and the cooling fan.
Portuguese seafarers returning from the Orient brought fans to Europe where they developed into high fashion accessories. France became the ultimate trendsetter, and the fan traveled to the Americas in the company of French gowns and hats.
Fans reflected the general conviction of the times that fine craftsmanship, even in everyday objects, was important. Fan makers lavished elaborate workmanship on their products. Sticks were carved from ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, bones, and rare woods, and intricately embellished with gold and silver as well as semiprecious and precious stones. The leaves were made mostly of paper, but parchment, feathers, silk, and lace were common. Prominent artists of the day painted them with elaborate pictures of flowers, domestic scenes, picnics, and any other imaginable subject. Fans opened not only into semirounds, but also into full circles (called cockades), hearts, and other unusual shapes. In fact, fan makers tried to create the most luxurious novelties that would enhance the status of the owner. Fans were considered worthy enough to present to European royalty and American presidential wives as prestigious gifts.
During the eighteenth century, when fans were most popular, not only ladies but also gentlemen carried fans. No distinguishing features can be attributed to masculine fans, but quite possibly, slightly larger fans belonged
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