Fan
Unknown Artist
18th century
Medium
Silk, metal, gold and silver, glass, ivory, mother-of-pearl
Dimensions
11 1/8 x 20 1/2 in. (28.3 x 52.1 cm)
Classification
Fans
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. William Randolph Hearst, 1963
Accession Number
63.90.71
Art Historical Context
This exquisite 18th-century French, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of's Department of European Sculpture and Decor Arts, exemplifies the opulent craftsmanship of the ancien régime. Measuring 11⅛ × 20½ inches when open, it was a fashionable accessory for women of the upper classes, serving not just for cooling but as a subtle tool for social signaling—think flirtatious gestures or coded messages in the elaborate "language of the fan" popular at Versailles. Crafted from luxurious materials like silk for the leaf, ivory or mother-of-pearl for the sticks, and embellished with gold and silv...