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Artificial ivory

Introduced at London's Great Exhibition in 1851, these imitations, including Celluloid (see), Cellonite, Xylonite, Pyralin, French Ivory, Ivorine, and Ivoroid, among others, became the rage.  Used for products as diverse as billiards balls and hair combs, the imitations were also popular for fans.  Many later Victorian American and European fans are misidentified as ivory, when they are in fact one of the faux ivories or bone.

 

Autograph fans

During the latter part of the 19th century an early part of the 20th century, women collected signatures of escorts and friends.  Signed on sturdy paper leaves or the upper portions of wooden Brisé fans, autograph fans became portable souvenir albums, now frequently available in flea markets.

 Brisé Fan

A fan with no leaf, but made of rigid, overlapping sticks held together at the base by a rivet and at the top by a ribbon, cord, or similar material.

 Cabriolet

A fan named for the light-weight carriage introduced in Paris.  True cabriolet fans date from 1775, have two leaves mounted on long thin sticks, and usually depict a woman driving her cabriolet.  19th century copies are not uncommon.
 

 Celluloid

John W. Hyatt invented his artificial ivory in 1865, then improved his product and began marketing it as "celluloid" in 1867.   (also see "artificial ivory")
 

 Chicken skin

A very fine grade of prepared skin, which has the visual effect of "orange peel" and has a smooth, "powdered" feel.

 Chinoiserie

Fanciful European interpretation of Chinese styles, especially popular during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Scenes are usually quite idyllic the architecture is often exaggerated (absurdly up-turned eaves on pagodas), the faces alike, the colors often blue and white.
 

 Clouté

A form of "nail-head" application, as of a carved tortoiseshell motif onto ivory.
 

Cockade

A fan with circular leaf (though some open to less than 360°). They can be of both folding and brisé variety.

 Commemorative

Fans chronicling a specific event, such as a sports match or royal visit.

 Dismounted fan

Fan which consists of a set of sticks and guards. Between the two upper guard sticks there is a pleated leaf or mount (most commonly of arc shape), which is adhered to the guards and slips of the monture.

 Empire Fans

Fashionable during Napoleon's reign, 1804-1814.   Small net, silk, or gauze leaves decorated with circular sequins or spangles.

Feather Fan

A fan with an overlay of feathers or entirely comprised of feathers.  Common though out history and all over the world.

 

Folding Fan

Fan with flexible, pleated leaf mounted on sticks.
 

 Fontage

Popular circa 1890-1935, shell-shaped fans with center of leaf longer than guards.

 Gorge

The area immediately below the leaf, extending from the shoulder of the sticks to the rivet area or head. Brisé and folding fans can both have a gorge section. On a brisé it is formed by the shaping of the fan's profile or can be created by painted or carved decoration. The gorge separates the fan into two distinct areas.

 

 Guard sticks

The pair of outer sticks of the monture. They are generally stronger than the gorge sticks and extend the full length of the fan, i.e. the top of the leaf to the rivet area. Guards give strength to the fan when in use and protect the leaves when folded.

 Handscreen

Rigid fan, often oval or round, mounted on a handle.   Often used to protect a woman's complexion from the fire, handscreens were made in pairs to display atop a mantelpiece.

 Head or rivet area

The rivet area is the part of the fan which rests in the hand when the fan is open. A rivet passes through the head of the fan, allowing the fan to articulate into open and shut states.

 Jenny Lind

Small often inexpensive fans purportedly popularized by the "Swedish nightingale" especially during her tours under the aegis of P.T. Barnum in the mid 1800's.  Fabric was cut to resemble feathers, then mounted on wooden bone, or faux ivory sticks, and connected by thread, as in Brisé fans.

 Leaf or Mount

The leaf of a folding fan refers to the pleated arc made with radiating folds, of silk, paper, skin. The leaf of a cockade is a long rectangular strip, folded regularly along its width; the-resulting "concertina" is held together along one side either by sewing or gluing and is fixed to the fan so that when open, the free edge opens out into a circle (or part circle). The leaf of a brisé can be formed by the application of other materials to a standard brisé or monture.

 Lithograph

Printed process invented in 1797, often subsequently hand colored.  Often mistaken for completely handpainted work, a lithograph is easy to spot under a magnifying glass.
 

 Loop

Many 19th-century fans are furnished with a loop. These are commonly of metal, but can also be of ivory or tortoiseshell, etc. The loop is attached at the time the fan receives its rivet, and to this loop a lady can suspend a ribbon or tassel so that the fan may be worn at the wrist. Most but not all loops on 18th-century fans are later replacements.

 Medallion

Pictorial representation, usually circular or oval, in leaf.

 Monture

Refers to the hard materials, i.e. mother-of- pearl, tortoiseshell, ivory, etc., which form the framework of the fan. Whether ornamental or undecorated, they function as the articulation mechanism, facilitating opening and closure. Not only do the sticks and guards provide the mechanical strength to these delicate objects, they can be as much a work of art as the paintings on the leaves, no doubt taking many more hours of craftsmanship to complete.

 Monture à I'anglaise

A method of adhering the slips of the fan directly to the back of a single fan leaf, rather than interleaving the slips between a double leaf where the "mechanics" are concealed from view. Monture à I'anglaise is probably the oldest form of mounting a folding fan and was regularly used in the 17th and 18th centuries. As the slips of the fan are permanently revealed, they are commonly decorated in a sympathetic or contrast style in order to make the recto more attractive. Some late 19th-century "Pastiche" fans include slip decoration taken directly from pieces of the early 18th century.

 Ogi or sensu

Fan made by the Japanese for the export market.   Usually has a double leaf of paper, a mixture of paper and silk, or sized linen.

 Piqué-point

Decorative small gold or silver points or pins set flush with surface of sticks or guards.

 Reserve

Small oval or shield background for monogram scene.
 

 Rivet

Both folding and brisé fans require a rivet or pivot at the bottom of the guard sticks to allow the fan to open and close and to keep all the components from failing apart. A rivet passes through the head or rivet-end of the fan, generally of metal with ornamental washers (18th century and onwards). Late in the 18th century, rivets with jewelled ends, often of clear or colored pastes, become popular. Other methods can be rivets of heat-sealed horn and tortoiseshell, knotted cotton (see oriental examples) and sometimes of folded and knotted paper. There are also barrel-made rivets which allow a cord to literally pass through the entire fan (see Japanese examples in the exhibition).

 Shoulder

The uppermost part of the stick where leaf and gorge meet.

 

 Slips

These are extensions made to the sticks of a fan which are either adhered directly to the back of a fan (see Monture à I'anglaise), or alternatively a double-leafed fan will have the slips inserted between the two layers of leaf on each alternate fold. Most commonly, slips are spliced on to the sticks just above the shoulder. This secondary part may well be made of plain or perforated bone, ivory, wood or bamboo, depending on the type of fan and country of origin. Fine quality fans sometimes feature slips, which are of the host material. This is particularly true of lace fans mounted on ivory, mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, where the slips show through the transparent mount. Some fan makers of the 19th and 20th centuries experimented with producing highly ornamental slips, which are adhered to the verso.

 

 Sticks

Rigid framework of a folding fan.  Often made of wood, bone, faux ivory, mother of pearl, tortoise, or real ivory.
 

 Stud

Exposed end of rivet, sometimes decorative paste "gem".

 Thumb Piece

A small filet of ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell, etc., which acts as an ornamental reinforcement at the head end of the guard sticks. On some occasions this filet encloses the rivet mechanism entirely, a most attractive finish. Thumb-pieces are generally made in contrast to the host material and on some fans of supreme quality, the thumb-piece may be made of a lamination of tortoiseshell under mother-of-pearl.

 Uchiwa

Japanese rigid screen fan with the handle and the framework supporting the round or oval paper leaf made from one length of bamboo.

 Unmounted Leaf

A fan leaf, which has never reached the folding and mounting, stage and is therefore generally pristine and viewed as a picture (e.g. Japanese fan leaf in this exhibition).

 Upper Guard

The portion of guard sticks, which protects the folded fan leaf, or from the shoulder area upwards on a brisé fan.

 Vellum

Animal skin but a thicker preparation than chicken skin and therefore very durable.

 Washer

Small disk; prevents friction between the end of the rivet and the fan.  Often found on fans made of tortoiseshell, lacquered wood or paper maché, or other easily scratched materials.