Fan of silk with applied mother of pearl, made in France, ca. 1900

Fan of white silk painted with gouache, and with applied mother of pearl bordered with sequins. The design is in an 18th-century style of a girl at a wall with a lover watched by an elderly gentleman. The guard and sticks are of mother of pearl inlaid with gilt, pierced and painted. In profile they form a step gilt relief pattern. The pin is of paste set in brass. It is a transparency fan with the backs of the figures painted on the reverse.

Originally acquired with a green grey floral gilt lace trimmed box marked 'Duvelleroy Paris By Appointment London 167, Regent Street, 167', and 'Manufactured in Paris'.

Given by Major and Mrs Broughton

This fan was owned by Cara Broughton, née Cara Leland Huttleston Rogers (1867-1939), who married Urban Hanlon Broughton (1857-1929) in 1895. As Urban H. Broughton died before he could be elevated to a peerage, their eldest son Urban H.R. Broughton (1896-1966) became 1st Baron Fairhaven of Lode on 20 March 1929, while Cara became 1st Lady Fairhaven. This barony became extinct on Urban H.R.Broughton's death, but a later barony, Baron Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey, co. Cambridge, was granted to him in 1961, with a remainder to his brother, Henry (1900-1973), to enable this title to continue after his death without male heirs.

This forms part of a large donation of late 19th and early 20th century garments and accessories (with a few historical textiles) donated to the Museum in 1972 by Cara's grandson and Henry's son, Major Ailwyn Broughton and his wife, a year before Ailwyn became Lord Fairhaven following his father's death.

The famous Parisian firm of Duvelleroy probably made this fan. Jean-Pierre Duvelleroy established the fan-making business in 1827, and by 1887 it had two shops in Paris and one in London. The decoration on the fan leaf brings together two styles. The fan painter has included elements of the popular Rococo style of the 19th century and the romantic style of the 18th century.

The main charm of this fan is the way the image on the front is seen from behind on the reverse. A young woman talks to her lover over a fence while her father looks on. On the reverse, the lover reaches up to talk to his sweetheart. The rounded shape of the fan leaf and green tinting of the mother-of-pearl are typical of the period 1895 to 1905.

T.263-1972