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| Detail from a silk fan inspired by an original from 1783. |
The prices start at SEK 2000 for fans with printed vignettes, SEK 3500 for commissioned ones, fully hand-painted fans - with paper leaves. (With exceptions for well-used fans and fans with slight imperfections).
Silk leaves start at SEK 5000.
In rough terms, the prices depend on three things:
1. The degree of difficulty of the painting. Vignette designs with complicated patterns are often more expensive than earlier fan designs with one motif all over the leaf.
2. The quality of+price for the sticks.
3. Whether you want sequins and/or embroideries.
I am aware that some of my fans may be as expensive as a new toilette or an original 18th-century fan. But the difference between one of my fans and a fragile antique purchased for approximately the same price is of course that my fan can and should be used. ;-)
Ordering procedure
I will email you sketches of your fan during the course of my work, and finally a photo of your finished item + the total costs for the p&p. Payments should be made through PayPal or bank transfers through IBAN/Swift-BIC. As soon as the transaction is cleared, your item will be sent in a registered letter (for an additional sum).
I always appreciate to hear from my customers when the package has arrived, to let me know that everyone is satisfied. :-)
General info
While not a formally educated expert, I do know a lot about 18th-century fans and I am always doing my best to make my fans as period-correct as possible. My present stock of unused or recycled "skeletons" or sticks, antique or modern ones, however, is limited, which means that I often have to compromise on the matter. As you surely understand, it is impossible for me to paint a set of modern replacement sticks to look exactly like the sumptuously carved and gilded things of ivory or mother of pearl that makes the skeletons of the original fans. Even if I tried, it would turn out to be ridiculously expensive, not to mention time-consuming.
Most fans are mounted on wooden sticks or, in some cases, antique/vintage bone sticks without telltale modern or Victorian decorations on them.
The leaves
In the 1700s, the leaves were generally made of paper, vellum or silk (and in rarer cases, lace or muslin). For my fans, I use paper or silk.
Paper leaves are relatively easy to make, require no special care during the design and painting process and can be decorated with sequins (glued or sewn on) just like silk leaves. I always use period-correct, laid paper for my fan leaves.
Silk leaves are lovely indeed – but they have to be nailed tightly onto a frame and prepared with a special lacquer mix before being painted, and the silk constantly stretches and moves as fabrics do which can ruin it all during the critical folding process.
Silk leaves with embroideries always need a firm backing of gauze or paper to protect the threads.
Original fans almost always have double leaves with an obverse and a reverse side, with a simplified version of the painting on the reverse. Fans with single leaves were called monture anglaise and these were often still painted with flowers or monograms on top of the visible sticks on the reverse.
Unfortunately, modern paper is thicker and at the same time more fragile than its 18th-century equivalent, so double paper leaves are not always possible to make. Sometimes the reverse can still be decorated on single leaves, as described above.
The sticks
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| The basic shapes of 18th century fans. (C) Aurora |
In the 18th century, fans were most often larger than the typical Asian or Spanish fans of today – about 28 cms closed, compared to the usual 22 cms of the latter. Chinese wooden sticks (of the larger type) usually works - especially since chinoiserie designs were all the rage back in the days. As a rule, plain and undecorated sticks are better than anything that looks too Victorian or modern.
I prefer to avoid plastic sticks at all costs, but if they are made to look like tortoiseshell it works in some cases.
