Disbursing an old stored crate of fans we've purchased over decades, this is a simple but pretty one, all wood but the small leaf of black muslin. The painting is a transfer print and is of the famous painting "Las Mininas" by Valásquez, making me wonder if the fan might be a Grand Tour souvenir, perhaps first purchased at the Prado, Madrid, where this painting resides. It's a rather unique type, is also hand painted.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type. The wood guards and sticks are in excellent condition, as is the fan in general. I am unsure of the date, but certainly not later than 1910, and likely a decade or more earlier. The front guard is hand painted, back is not. Not a bit of warp to the wood, and it displays beautifully. It opens fully to 43cm.
