Fans in the Eighteenth CenturyД«y the beginning of the eighteenth century, folding fans were being made throughout Europe while increasing numbers were being imported from the Far East by the thriving East India Companies of Holland, France and England in particular. It is also interesting to note that while folding fans can be seen in the hands of royalty and grand ladies, fixed feather fans were used by the вЂњbourgeoisieвЂќ or less well-off. As the century progressed, folding fans gained in popularity until, by the end of the century, they had completely superseded fixed fans. In the earlier part of the century, fixed fans, consisting of feathers set into a handle of varying splendour, were the norm. Fans in the Seventeenth CenturyДЇixed fans and folding fans can be seen in portraits of ladies throughout the seventeenth century, a crucial time in the development of the folding fan in Europe. Not only did fans find their origins in countries along the Spice Routes, but the Crusades brought Islamic influences to Western Europe. Rare illustrations in manuscripts show that fans differed in shape, size and material and that their origins were equally varied. The development of fans in Europe from early Christian times and into the Middle Ages was influenced by contact with other civilizations. Chinese cultural influences were exported to Japan by way of Korea but evidence suggests that conversely, the folding fan came to China from Japan. In China, the screen fan or pien-mien was the type most frequently used in early times. The Chinese and Japanese also used fans from a very early date.

Fans in the Dark AgesДЇlabella, such as the flabellum of Monza вЂ“ dating from the VI century, and also known as вЂQueen TheodolindaвЂ™s fan вЂ“ were used by the Church as liturgical objects throughout the so-called Dark Ages. sticks and guards) were made from materials such as ivory, mother of pearl and tortoiseshell, often carved and pierced and ornamented with silver, gold and precious stones, the leaves were well painted by craftsmen who gradually amalgamated into guilds such as The Worshipful Company of Fan Makers. These early fans were reserved for Royalty and the nobility and, as expensive toys, they were regarded as a status symbol. The first European folding fans were inspired by and copied from prototypes brought in to Europe by merchant traders and the religious orders who had set up colonies along the coasts of China and even Japan. Pictorial records showing some of the earliest fans date from around 3000 BC and there is evidence that the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans all used fans as cooling and ceremonial devices, while Chinese literary sources associate the fan with ancient mythical and historical characters.Д®arly fans were all of the fixed type, and the folding fan does not appear either in the East or the West until relatively late in its history. Fewer still can match such diversity with a history stretching back at least 3,000 years. Few art forms combine functional, ceremonial and decorative uses as elegantly as the fan.

19th century european history timeline