History Of The Fan

In 'History of the Fan' by G. Woolliscroft Rhead, readers are taken on a fascinating journey through the cultural and historical significance of fans. This detailed account explores the evolution of fans from practical tools to symbols of status and fashion, illuminating their significance in various societies. Rhead's writing style is engaging and informative, making this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in the social history of everyday objects. The author's meticulous research and attention to detail provide a comprehensive overview of the fan's role in different cultures and time periods. G. Woolliscroft Rhead, a renowned expert in decorative arts and material culture, brings his expertise to 'History of the Fan' by delving into the rich history and symbolism of this often overlooked accessory. Rhead's extensive knowledge and passion for the subject shine through in his meticulous exploration of the fan's evolution and cultural significance. I highly recommend 'History of the Fan' to readers interested in cultural history, decorative arts, or fashion studies. Rhead's thorough examination of this everyday object sheds light on its often overlooked importance and provides valuable insights into the social and cultural dynamics surrounding it.

A comprehensive and authoritative account of the history of the Japanese fan. The 200 plus full color photographs carefully selected from collections worldwide include works by Korin and Sotatsu as well as Ukiyo-e prints by Buncho, Shunsho, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada, together with details focusing on the fine lacquer and inlay. This is an anthology of the best and most representative Japanese fans and an essential in the libraries of art historians, collectors and all interested in the Japanese way of life.

The fan magazine has often been viewed simply as a publicity tool, a fluffy exercise in self-promotion by the film industry. But as an arbiter of good and bad taste, as a source of knowledge, and as a gateway to the fabled land of Hollywood and its stars, the American fan magazine represents a fascinating and indispensable chapter in journalism and popular culture. Anthony Slide's Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine provides the definitive history of this artifact. It charts the development of the fan magazine from the golden years when Motion Picture Story Magazine and Photoplay first appeared in 1911 to its decline into provocative headlines and titillation in the 1960s and afterward. Slide discusses how the fan magazines dealt with gossip and innuendo, and how they handled nationwide issues such as Hollywood scandals of the 1920s, World War II, the blacklist, and the death of President Kennedy. Fan magazines thrived in the twentieth century, and they presented the history of an industry in a unique, sometimes accurate, and always entertaining style. This major cultural history includes a new interview with 1970s media personality Rona Barrett, as well as original commentary from a dozen editors and writers. Also included is a chapter on contributions to the fan magazines from well-known writers such as Theodore Dreiser and e. e. cummings. The book is enhanced by an appendix documenting some 268 American fan magazines and includes detailed publication histories.

This timeline of the evolution of hand fans provides a look at the following: How the most ordinary found objects evolved into highly sophisticated and ornamented ones, becoming symbols of authority and privilege, imbued with ceremonial - and for some, even mystical significance. How artifacts such as carvings, pottery, murals and paintings bear witness to the early use of fans where the written record is scant or non-existent. How the early arts of sericulture and paper making figured prominently in the development of the fan. How other arts, esp. the carving of ivory, mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, as well as the treatment of animal skins, developed over many centuries in widespread geographic areas, would find full expression in the beautiful fans of the 18th and 19th centuries. How the powerful guilds of Europe that arose during the Middle Ages eventually affected all phases of fan production till the end of the 18thC. How 15thC Western Exploration re-started trade with the Far East & brought new fan types to Europe. How first Chinoiserie and later Japonisme influenced Western art, including fans. How fans in Europe went from being expensive novelties used to show off wealth and prestige to becoming common accessories available to the middle classes. How technological developments changed social interactions and the uses of the fan. How the gradual development of different forms of printing led to the mass production of printed fans. How every important movement/period in Western art played a role in fan decoration. How, inevitably, "fans followed fashion" in style, size, materials and subject matter. How and where the fan, one of the oldest utilitarian/ceremonial objects invented by man, is still in use and vitally important in disparate cultures and geographic areas. How and why fan use declined rapidly in the West and how interest in fans is being kept alive in areas where fan use is no longer common. This 142-page book begins with a useful Glossary of Fan Types, illustrated with 32 photographs. The text has another 200+ photographs representing fans from the past two centuries and concludes with a Glossary of fan-related terms and an extensive Bibliography.

Fashioned Texts and Painted Books examines the folding fan's multiple roles in fin-de-siecle and early twentieth-century French literature. Focusing on the fan's identity as a symbol of feminine sexuality, as a collectible art object, and, especially, as an alternative book form well suited to the reception of poetic texts, the study highlights the fan's suitability as a substrate for verse, deriving from its myriad associations with coquetry and sex, flight, air, and breath. Close readings of Stephane Mallarme's eventails of the 1880s and 1890s and Paul Claudel's Cent phrases pour eventails (1927) consider both text and paratext as they underscore the significant visual interest of this poetry. Works in prose and in verse by Octave Uzanne, Guy de Maupassant, and Marcel Proust, along with fan leaves by Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Paul Gauguin, serve as points of comparison that deepen our understanding of the complex interplay of text and image that characterizes this occasional subgenre. Through its interrogation of the correspondences between form and content in fan poetry, this study demonstrates that the fan was, in addition to being a ubiquitous fashion accessory, a significant literary and art historical object straddling the boundary between East and West, past and present, and high and low art.

Fan-carving is the process of slicing wood into thin blades (feathers) and then twisting and interlocking them to create a 3-dimensional design from one piece of wood. Fans and birds are the most popular items made. Legends and customs associated with the fan bird are of a religious and spiritual nature. With the help of European museums, the Nyes have traced the history and migration of this Old World folk art from the ancient Russian region, through Europe, to North America. Preserving this folk art is the purpose of this book. It contains easy to follow step-by-step instructions on how to make fans and birds. Full color photos accompany each step. Also included are six full-scale templates: a fan, plus five birds. This book contains a comprehensive chart of twelve species of wood, each evaluated for its performance. Fan-carving is an entry level project to woodcarving. Within three hours a novice can create a very respectable bird. The story about fan-carving is as interesting as making a bird.