Not just cool– FAN-TASTIC
WE caught the TV show Pitch Battle for the first time at the weekend and were blown away by the quality of the choral singing in the contest. What mesmerised us most, though, was guest judge, soul diva Chaka Khan’s amazing mane of red hair and the huge black and glittery gold fan she wielded throughout.
Clearly, the queen of funk had not read the flirting signals contained in Daniel R. Shafer’s 1877 bestseller Secrets of Life Unveiled. Had she done so, she might have realised just how confused any suitor might have felt by the end of this latest BBC shiny-floor show.
If you plan to flourish a fan at your next soirée, then you should read the panel below. Knowing how to speak the language of love using only a fashion accessory makes flirting and courtship all the more sensuous.
In polite 18th and 19th century court circles when ladies and gentlemen gathered for musical recitals and evening balls, the fan was much more than a tool for keeping cool.
They were designed for less subtle amusement too. While most fans open from left to right, perhaps revealing a painted picture on each side, some Chinese fans had extra sticks hidden in the centre. Open such a fan from right to left and its elaborate ribboning allows the central sticks to separate, revealing titillating amorous scenes thought daring by their Victorian owners.
Ingenious construction could also turn a folding fan into a practical joke. On opening the fan, the victim is startled to discover it is entirely broken with the sticks falling apart. When the fan is opened the opposite way, it is miraculously mended.
Fans were made for all kinds of purposes. Rare, much sought after examples inlaid with paper-thin mica panels had a transparency that enabled the holder to view the world around them unobserved.
Those printed with a mask design and cut with slits for the eyes tell of theatre trips to risqué plays where women were not supposed to be present. Lorgnette or Quizzing fans, inset with magnifying glasses, aided owners too vain to admit to bad eyesight by wearing spectacles, while another very rare fan had a small rear-view mirror that emerged from the top of the guard, designed to discover if a man is hovering behind the holder.
Conversation fans, which revealed Secrets of Life Unveiled by Daniel R. Shafer, published 1877. Subtitled “Satan in Society”, it also contains tips on fortune telling, omens, charms, and the occult and can fetch £200£300 in fine condition A 19th century Chinese black lacquer and gilt fan, one side of the paper leaf painted with figures within landscapes in cartouches, the other with exotic birds and roses, sold with its black lacquer and gilt fitted case for £360