Fan with Painted Decoration

This fan features a fanciful scene of a woman reclining on a branch of tree, upon which a peacock also perches. The tree and its occupants are set before a seascape with clouds and a rising or setting sun at the horizon. Peacock feather motifs can be seen in the woman’s dress and headcovering and also feature in additional painted decoration on the fan's leaf and have inspired the form of its sticks. This fan is accompanied by a box that indicates it was sold by H. N. van Santen, a German retailer of jewelry, fans, and other “fancy goods” with locations in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Baden-Baden. While it is unclear when this luxury goods firm was founded and closed, it was had some prominence between the early 1870s and the 1920s and was, as the firm stated in an 1896 advertisement, “Purveyor to the Court of Her Majesty the German Empress; the Queens of Saxony, Holland, and Denmark; the King of Serbia; and Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Hohenzollern, the Prince of Wales, and the Count of Flanders.” Luxurious fans seem to have been a focus for this retailer and were frequently mentioned in their advertisements. A 1904 article on “Der Modern Fächer” (“The Modern Fan”) in the periodical “Kunstgewerbeblatt” (“Journal of Arts and Crafts”) illustrated two fans that were available at Van Santen’s Berlin location and characterized the retailer as “a renowned local shop specializing in jewelry, enamelware, and luxury goods” which “stocks exclusively French fans.” If this article is correct, it is possible that this peacock-themed fan was produced for Van Santen in France.

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Collection of Page Swann Gillet (Mrs. Charles B. Gillet, 1903 - 1981), Baltimore, by 1973 [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; given to Walters Art Museum, 1973.