Description

An elegant eighteenth-century French folding fan, preserved and displayed within a shaped giltwood shadowbox frame. The fan leaf, executed on paper or vellum, is finely hand-painted with a pastoral courtship scene depicting three fashionable figures in contemporary dress gathered beneath a tree. The figures are rendered in delicate pastel hues with soft modeling typical of Rococo taste, set against a lightly suggested landscape.
Flanking the central scene are ornamental reserves embellished with floral bouquets, ribbons, and scrolling geometric motifs, further enriched with applied gilt sequins that lend texture and reflective brilliance to the surface. The leaf is crisply pleated, with visible age-related patina consistent with an authentic eighteenth-century example.
The verso reveals a full complement of carved and pierced bone sticks, finely worked and decorated with black and gilt floral and foliate motifs. The sticks converge at a retained rivet and guard, indicating a complete and structurally intact fan. The quality of the piercing and surface ornament reflects skilled specialist workmanship typical of luxury fan production in ancien régime France.
The fan is mounted against a dark ground within a curved, glazed shadowbox frame finished in warm gilt, following the arc of the open fan and enhancing its sculptural presence. A fitted hanging mount allows for wall display.