Antique Nineteenth Century French Hand Painted Eventail/Fan

The ivory colored sticks are beautiful. They each have a hand cut design of flowers, scrolls and ovals. The edges have a lovely scallop at the top and a wider scallop at the bottom. Silvered leaf shapes ornament the length of each stick. There are two pearl buttons at the bottom (the metal ring is not present).

The scenes are painted on thick paper. They are elegantly executed. The premiere scene portrays a galant young man wooing a young lady who is on an outing with her friends/sisters. The younger ladies hold a nest with three hungry birds inside. The bird wins the attention the young lady over the courting man. The clothing is very detailed with brilliant hues of yellow, orange, green, purple, blue and red. A lake appears behind them with a country chateau in the background. There is a very intricate hand painted gilt frame around all edges.

The reverse scene depicts another young gentleman, in a powdered wig, presenting a flower wreath to the object of his affection. She looks away toward the other two young ladies who sit daintily holding flowers and a basket of flowers in their laps. They sit in a garden setting with a lake and small mountains/rocks behind them. The details of their clothing is equally well done, in brilliant hues of fuchsia, yellow, green, orange, eggplant and red. A matching hand painted gilt border/frame ornaments the edges.

Along the right and left sides are wide borders of hand painted scrolls and flowers intermixed with pink and blue flowers. The fan measures (when outstretched) 18 1/2" across, the length of the sticks is 10 1/2". The width of the sticks is 5/8" at the top tapering to 1/4" at the bottom.

The fan is in very good antique condition considering it's delicate nature and it's age. There is one small spot of paint missing on scene #2 (the bottom right of the blue dress), but otherwise no noticeable spots of color are missing. The sticks are sound, there is one small repair to stick #3 from the left (front side, mid way). There are no noticeable tears to the paper.

It comes with the original cardboard box which still bears the etiquette ticket from the store, "Au Gagne Petit Rue de Rivoli" (box edges worn, lid separated at corners (this can be repaired but we chose to leave this decision to the final owner).

It is a beautiful romantic example from an era when elegance and beauty were cherished.

Item ID: MT608