A beautiful mid-1800s French brisé hand fan, tortoise shell guard sticks and ribs, a diaphanous black mesh leaf that is entirely embroidered with gold and silver sequins, the circle motif repeated on the tortoise shell as inlaid pique work in silver and gold. The fan remains in very nice condition, having been housed in the box as shown. Alas, no maker mark or embossed stamp in or on the card and silk box to tell us a maker. If you fan experts recognize this work, please email.
Very good to excellent condition for age and type, the seemingly fragile nature of this Napoleon III era fan shows little or no flaws for age. The fan remains in what would appear to be its original box, and that black mesh is in remarkably good condition, has lost no sequins. I don't think even an inlaid dot of pique work has fallen loose. An intricately cut of sticks repeats the circle motif, as well, just before it bursts into the leaf. I've owned it for decades, even though I'm not truly a fan collector. This one appealed to my other collecting penchants. Isn't it gorgeous! Even the box is fine. All measurements are noted on our photos, and folded, the fan is 8.5" long, opening to 16". The widest point in the carved guard sticks is .75". No breaks.
IMPORTANT NOTE regarding antique tortoise shell or ivory: We are great supporters of protection for endangered species in our modern world. We never buy or sell anything 100 years or newer; we donate to anti-poaching organizations; we don't hunt; we conserve in ways that impact global warming (we're totally solar at home), knowing those measures also protect the animals in the wild today. We also recognize the vast cultural history we preserve with our care and reverence for these antique objects, and agree with CITES that objects over 100 years of age have nothing whatsoever to do with species depletion in our current world.
Our offering exceeds the age limitation of "more than 100 years of age", and is well within the exemption for CITES regulation. If imported, met the CITES regulation. This item will be handled and shipped from our Utah business, and is not available for shipment internationally, nor within the USA to California, NY, Nevada, Hawaii, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington if it contains ivory, sorry. Please see our small print for more details.
