The style of this stunning old hand painted fan hearkens back to the Louis Kings of France, French Romantic era, c.1750s, but it's a revival of the style, and dates between 1850-1900. Both back and front hand painted heavy paper leaf, guards and sticks, spines in bone which has been intricately formed, carved and inlaid with silver and gold foil. Lots of photos to show the painting and the detail. I've collected beautiful old fans through several decades, mostly selling the superb museum pieces, and the rest get crated for "when I have time". Rick found a full crate of them, and said "it's time!", so working through them. If you're a collector, bookmark our site and come back regularly. It's going to take a while to get them all listed. About 40 or more, and 8-10 off for some small restoration work. This one is 10.5" long (guards), and opens to a fabulous 18.5".
Very good to excellent condition for age and type. I realize the sticks and guards are in need of a cleaning. Since I'm told the very best way to clean them is spit and a q-tip, and, times being what they are - I'll leave it to the new owner to do the loving touch-up cleaning. I've looked very closely on this fan to see if it's a hand painted litho. I do not see the faint tell-tale dots, and the paint is a thicker gouache, the paper more substantial than others we have which are hand painted litho. But I also see no signature, so we've added lots of detail photos for your expert eyes and evaluations. It is in what we believe to be the original box. One end of the lid is missing, but otherwise fine and has protected the fan beautifully.
