Fan Case thumbnail 1
Fan Case thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Fan Case

1820-1880 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
China (made)

This bamboo case is for holding a folding fan. It is decorated with a landscape scene together with calligraphic inscription, using a technique known as tiehuang (applied yellow). For this example, bamboo has been used a veneer. Thin layers of the pale golden inner skin of a section of the stem are peeled off, flattened under pressure and applied with the use of a strong glue to a core of wood. Fan cases like this are likely to have been mass produced for the commercial market than to have been made to order by individual craftsmen or exchanged as tokens of personal esteem between gentlemen.


Object details

Categories
Woodwork
Fans
Clothing
Containers
Landscapes
Object type
Fan case
Materials and techniques
Bamboo veneer on a wood core
Bamboo
Wood
Incised
Veneered
Brief description
Fan case, bamboo veneer on a wood core, China, Qing dynasty, 1820-1880
Physical description
Fan case, bamboo veneer on a wood core, hexagonal in section with free-running covers threaded to each end, on one side a landscape of river, trees and mountains incised and rubbed in green, above a couplet of two seven-character lines; on the reverse a long inscription in archaic seal script.
Dimensions
  • Height: 39.5cm
  • Width: 7cm
Style
Qing
Marks and inscriptions
  • written in kaishu: 'you fu shi bin bing'. 'Qing cui fang gu'. (From Register)
    Translation
    The Legate Pacifying the Right, Binbing, carved these 26 characters. By Qingcui, in imitation of the antique.
  • a couplet of two seven-character lines (From Register)
    Translation
    The rustling of wind in the pine trees, a sound of sighing/ Spring waves beyond the willow trees, a spattering of green'
  • long inscription in archaic seal script on reverse (From Register)
    Translation
    'The master of implements, Binbing, made this with his own hand, for use in campaign, when travelling and in battle. (may it bring) ten thousand years of long life without end, and may sons and grandsons eternally treasure this case.'
Subjects depicted
River
Mountain
Trees
Summary
This bamboo case is for holding a folding fan. It is decorated with a landscape scene together with calligraphic inscription, using a technique known as tiehuang (applied yellow). For this example, bamboo has been used a veneer. Thin layers of the pale golden inner skin of a section of the stem are peeled off, flattened under pressure and applied with the use of a strong glue to a core of wood. Fan cases like this are likely to have been mass produced for the commercial market than to have been made to order by individual craftsmen or exchanged as tokens of personal esteem between gentlemen.
Bibliographic reference
Clunas, Craig. Chinese Carving. London: Sun Tree Publishing Ltd in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996. p. 59, fig. 65.
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
FE.15-1976

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O461107/fan-case-unknown/
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