Fan

Art Historical Context

This delicate Chinese fan, crafted between 1850 and 1900 during the late Qing dynasty, the artistry of decorative arts from imperial China. Unidentified in its maker, the fan likely features intricate paintings of a pagoda—iconic tiered towers symbolizing Buddhist and Taoist architecture—and lively figure groups, capturing scenes of daily life, mythology, or scholarly pursuits. Fans like this served dual purposes: practical tools for cooling in humid summers and elegant accessories for the elite, often carried by scholars, officials, or ladies at social gatherings. In Chinese culture, such fa...

About the Artist

Unidentified (Chinese)

The artist known simply as "Chinese" in museum records represents the vast tradition of anonymous or unattributed masters in Chinese art history, with 99 works preserved in our collection. These pieces exemplify the enduring legacy of guó huà, or traditional Chinese painting, one of the world's oldest continuous artistic practices. Early life is not well documented, as is common for many practitio...