Painted Wooden Fan With Chinese Scenes And Painted Pink Tissue Paper, Late 19th Century

Cockade fan (see description below) with black-lacquered wooden ribs decorated with gilded Chinese scenes. The fan body is made of pink tissue paper with a hand-painted design featuring blue and red flowers, black scrollwork, and gilding along the edge.
Note: there is a stain and a tear in the tissue paper.

Date: late 19th century, Napoleon III era

Dimensions (closed): H 30 x W 1.7 to 0.7 cm; (open): H 27 x W 29.5 cm

The “cocarde” fan(known as a “cockade fan” in English) is a particularly elegant design, recognizable by its circular shape that unfolds like a fan around a central axis. Very fashionable in the 19th century, it experienced a resurgence in popularity during the Second Empire, at a time when the fan was simultaneously a fashion accessory, a symbol of social status, and a true medium for artistic expression.

Under Napoleon III, French society became fascinated with the arts and cultures of the Far East. Trade with China and Japan, as well as the World’s Fairs of 1855 and 1867 in Paris, fostered the discovery and spread of Asian motifs in the decorative arts. This fascination, known as “Chinoiserie” or “Japonism” depending on the sources and influences, can be found in textiles, ceramics, furniture, and, of course, fans.

This fan perfectly illustrates the craze of that period: the painted scenes reflect this taste for the exotic, while the delicate, hand-painted pink silk paper with floral patterns attests to the refinement sought after at that time.