subjects
A fan is an approximately leaf-shaped object that creates a draft by waving it back and forth. The draft of air cools the face by evaporation when it is hot . While in Europe subjects were used almost exclusively by women and are hardly widespread today, they are still used in everyday life by both sexes in Asia.
The fan was and is not a mere commodity : in Europe it was a fashion accessory, a status symbol and a means of coquetry . In Japan it is a prop in traditional dances, which as an extension of the arm increases the expressiveness of the gestures. Here, as there, the option of hiding the face behind it has been widely used. The German Fan Museum is located in Bielefeld , which is dedicated to the history and presentation of different epochs and provides a specialist library.
history
Early depictions of fans are known from ancient Egypt . These were not, however, hand-held fans, but large fronds that were moved by servants to fan the rule.
Hand-held fans made by the fan -maker can be found in Europe from the 16th century. In traditional costume books and portraits of the time, fans are documented primarily for Italy, including the flag fan (in the form of a rigid flag on a stick) as a special Venetian form, but also plumes and folding fans.
The flatness of most types of fan invited decorative design. The bars were carved, perforated or gilded. The leaves of folding fans have been artistically painted. Frequent motifs were ancient Greek legends, biblical, shepherd and port scenes, chinoiseries and contemporary subjects. Current events were presented especially from the late 18th century, from the 1700th anniversary of the eruption of Vesuvius to the flight of the Montgolfière to the French Revolution .
Until the early 20th century, the fan was an almost indispensable fashion accessory for women. The complex and expensive production made it a status symbol, the delicacy and sensitivity a symbol of femininity. Ladies let themselves be portrayed with fans in hand and used them at parties to peek coquettishly from behind them.
From the end of the 19th century, brisé fans made from wooden plates also served as dance cards, in which the gentlemen entered themselves on the leaves of the fan, or as souvenirs, in which friends perpetuated themselves with a saying and autograph . The subjects that Oskar Kokoschka created for Alma Mahler-Werfel are well-known - "love letters in visual language", as he himself called them.
In the early 20th century, fans were also used as corporate gifts. This is still common in Japan today.
Unlike in Asia, fans are rarely made in Europe today. The last fan studios are in Paris and London as well as in Spain, where mainly cheap souvenir fans and traditional so-called flamenco fans are made.
Subject language
In connection with subjects, the term “subject language” is often used. Fans are said to have been used from the 18th century to exchange non-verbal secret messages at social gatherings. Regular dictionaries assign a fan gesture (e.g. "Fan held closed to the left cheek") to a statement (e.g. "I love you"). There are even said to have been courses in which the language of the subject was taught. How the secret messages could remain secret if their meaning was well known (or, conversely, how the recipient could understand them if the meaning was secret) is not mentioned.
In fact, a book from 1757 lists various emotions and the associated ways of holding a fan. However, it is really only about the interpretation of body language, which is emphasized by the fan, and how the fan can be used as a courtship prop (e.g. to let it fall so that someone picks it up). The only evidence for the direct correlation of gesture and statement is an undated publication by the fan manufacturer Duvelleroy (since 1827). It can be assumed that the technical language was invented as a marketing tool by this company, probably towards the end of the 19th century.
Fan types
Subjects are differentiated according to their form and technique.
Brisé fans
Brisé fans are the simplest type of foldable fan: several rods in the form of very long wedges are placed on top of one another, a pin is passed through a hole in the lower end to hold them together, and the upper ends are held together by a band. This makes it possible to fold up the compartment to save space when it is not in use. The bars are made of wood, ivory, tortoise shell or horn. Brisé fans are mainly found in the early 19th century, around 1800-1830 and in today's China.
Folding fan
The best-known and most widespread type of fan is, so to speak, a variant of the Brisé fan: As with that, sticks are held together by a pin at the lower end and a ribbon at the upper end. The only difference is that here the tape is so wide that it takes up a quarter to two thirds of the rod length, while the rods where the tape (which in this case is called a sheet) is stuck on are only 4–5 mm wide. In some cases (especially in the late 18th century and in Japanese dance fans) the bars are narrow along their entire length; the necessary flatness is only created by the sheet. The sheet is mostly made of paper, often made of swan skin or parchment up to around 1800 , and from around 1770 also of fabric. From the end of the 19th century, fan leaves were also made from lace. There are several varieties of the folding fan, including:
Cabriolet compartments
A folding fan with two, rarely also three concentrically arranged leaves, which are mounted on the same rods, or a correspondingly divided leaf. Such fans were originally made in France in the middle of the 18th century and often showed motifs of open horse-drawn carts that had become typical for Paris at the time.
Telescopic shelves
A variant of the folding fan in which the sheet can be pushed up and down along the rods. It was probably invented towards the end of the 18th century when the large pockets worn under the skirt were replaced by smaller wrist pouches. If the sheet is pushed all the way down, the fan is half as long as a normal folding fan and can be opened to more than 180 °. If the sheet is pushed all the way up, the fan can be opened to less than 180 °, but has the area of a normal fan.
Feather fan
Instead of a paper or leather sheet, bird feathers - mostly from an ostrich - are glued onto the sticks. This type of fan was common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially for ball fans.
Balloon fans
A folding fan, the rods of which become longer towards the middle, so that the sheet has the shape of a hot air balloon. This form was popular around 1890–1920.
Wheel compartments
The rodless leaf lies between two significantly longer cover rods which, when closed, hide and protect the leaf. It can be fanned out 360 ° so that the long cover rods form a stem. Such compartments are mainly made in China today and are available in Europe as cheap “handbag compartments”.
Parasol fan
The fan leaf can be opened into a full circle and tilted by means of a joint that connects it to a rod. Therefore, a parasol fan can be used like a bike fan or like a mini parasol.
Leaf fan
In addition to the folding fan (ōgi) , the leaf fans ( uchiwa ) are common in Japan . It is a bamboo stick with multiple splices at the top and covered with paper. Unlike the folding fan and its variations, it has a fixed shape.
Ceiling compartments
The pankha (Hindi for fan) or punkah (this spelling came up in the English colonies in the 19th century) was the luxurious forerunner of the ceiling fan.
It was widespread up to the end of the 19th century, especially in India, and with the invention of the cheaper to manufacture rotary fan at the beginning of the 20th century it was increasingly replaced by it.
Modern punkahs have computer-controlled technology to simulate the silent and slow oscillation of what used to be purely manual operation.
Iron fan
The Tessenberg [ tɛsːɛɴ (] Jap.鉄扇, dt. Iron subjects ) had a hidden weapon of the Samurai .
Fire fans
Fire fans are fans that are usually constructed of solid metal and wick tape. They are used for fire dance and fire performances.
Components of the subject
The individual components of the fan have hardly changed over the centuries. Disassembled into its basic components, the fan consists of the fan blade, the rods, the spike and the bracket.
Fan leaf
The fan leaf depicts the visible part of the fan. It represents the covering of the folding fan on the bars. Various motifs (printed, painted or embroidered) are shown on the fan sheet. The motifs on the fan leaf have changed over time. Examples of popular motifs are images of gods, plants, animals, birds, classical works or historical events. The sheet can consist of a wide variety of materials (parchment, swan skin, paper, leather, silk, lace).
Bars
The bars are essential parts of the fan. The sheet is attached to the fan bars. The folding fan is characterized by a movable frame made of bars. The two reinforced bars on the outer edges are called deck bars. When closed, they protect the compartment. The fan bars of a folding fan have a characteristic structure. A fan neck, tongue, shoulder and head can be distinguished.
mandrel
The spike is considered to be the connecting piece of the fan. As a pencil, it holds the rods together at the lower end, the head. In addition, the mandrel can contain a small disc. This is called the eye. The mandrel is typically made of metal and can be decorated, for example, with a cut glass stone or rock crystals. The mandrel is often referred to as a rivet or pivot pin.
hanger
The bracket is another part of the fan. It takes the form of a clasp or a horseshoe. It is also held by the thorn at the head of the fan.
literature
- Louis A. de Caraccioli: Des differentes manières de se servir de l'eventail . In: Ders .: Le Livre de quatre couleurs . Duchesne, Paris 1757.
- Ute Däberitz: Sun fan and air fan. The collection of subjects by Duke August von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (inventory catalog. Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha) , Gotha 2007.
- Madeleine Delpierre (Ed.): L'eventail. Miroir de Belle Epoque . Palais Galiera, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-901424-07-4 .
- Elisabeth Heller-Winter (Ed.): Fan. Art and fashion from five centuries . Hirmer, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7774-4490-1 .
- Susan Mayor: Fan . Müller, Erlangen 1995, ISBN 3-86070-434-6 .
- Annegret Nippa: Uchiwa and Ogi. Fashion and Customs in the Japanese Fan . State Museum of Ethnology, Dresden 2000.
See also
- Uchiwa and Ōgi for shapes of the Japanese fan.
- Gumbai Uchiwa (Japan)
- Fly whisk
Web links
- Old and new subjects from the competition and exhibition in Karlsruhe 1891 Digital copy from the Badische Landesbibliothek
- Antique subjects
- 18th century fans
- Subject collection
- Fan museum "The Fan Museum", Greenwich, GB
Individual evidence
- ↑ The language of the subject and what's true of the legend , La Couturière Parisienne.
- ↑ http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/object.asp?maker=FRENCH&object=25380&row=8&detail=about