Rare fans part of carnival display at church
Photo: Sean White
ST Stephen’s Uniting Church elder Wendy Williams came up with the idea to hold a display of antique fans at the church for carnival.
Ms Williams and other church members brought in their collection of hand-held fans from Japan, Spain, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and England.
Among the collection is a 100-year-old antique fan with a mirror in the handle which belonged to Ms Williams’ grandmother.
“I was given this fan 40 years ago when my mother was giving away her collection,” Ms Williams said.
“This fan is an amazing part of family history for me.
“Unfortunately, because it is made of paper it is becoming very brittle, so I will have to do some restoration work on it this year.”
She said hand-held fans had been a part of human history for thousands of years.
“When I looked into the history of it, I discovered that in the early days of the Catholic Church, they would use fans when they had communion as part of the ceremony,” Ms Williams said.
The antique fans displayed include fans made of rare tortoise shell, ivory and silk.
This is the church’s first fan display. “We’re hoping next year’s display will be bigger and better,” Ms Williams said.
The Floral Church hand-held fan display will be at St Stephen’s Uniting Church today from 9am to 4pm.