Wood and Painted Paper Fan
Credit LineGift of Miss. Edna Meyers, London, Ontario, 1976
Object number1976.053.399
Label TextHand fans have done more than generate a breeze. They have played ritual and ceremonial roles since they first appeared in Egypt some 4,000 years ago. And when folding fans arrived in Europe from Japan in the 16th century, they became symbols of wealth and status.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, folding fans also became elaborate fashion accessories women could use to conceal or communicate their emotions. There was even a language of the fan. For example, a fan held near the heart signalled, “You have won my love.” A fan rested shut on the right eye asked “When may I see you?”
Some fans, like those distributed by London’s D. S. Perrin & Co. and French Cleaners, have served as promotional items. Others were souvenirs, decorated with photographs of distant places, like this one with an image of the Saskatchewan Legislature, a memento of travel that a member of London’s Richter family saved.
Ultimately, for their owners, fans came to have emotional significance, serving as physical connections to past events, places, and activities.
NameFan, Hand
