Featured Antique/Vintage Hand Fans

Hi Everyone,

When my grandparents passed I became the owner of a few assorted items including a portion of my grandmother's hand fan collection. I've taken some photos of a small part of the collection (the ones that I think are a bit different or older) is anyone able to give me some more information on these please? Especially the one with the large blades that's damaged? Please note that the red japan airlines one is the back of the gold one.

Thank you,

B

Fan9a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan10a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan10b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan8b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan8a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan7c by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan7a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan7b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:41 PM

Fan4 by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan5c by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan5b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan5a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan6a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan6b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan3 by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:32 PM

Fan2 by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:26 PM

fan1a by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:26 PM

Fan1 by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 1:24 PM

 

Hopefully some one will be along with guidance on posting photos - your links only result in an error message, unfortunately.

 

Darn, I don't know why. I uploaded them to an album as media and they're showing up for me. Hmmm I'll have to figure it out.

 

I think I may have fixed the problem. Are you able to see them now?

 

I can see some of them. Some are clearly advertising fans, others are more decorative. None of them look especially old. I'd say they're 1950s and forwards from there.

 

we have a fan collector here.....wait till tomorrow.....

 

Usually....when I'm hot....
it's more than just my hands...

 

Really curious about the one with the wide blades as I've not seen anything else like it.

 

Mostly souvenir fans, not so very old. Looks like your grandmother traveled through Asia.
Fan 9 could be Japanese or Chinese. If you have a picture of it closed, front view, I could tell.
The Japan Airlines one is based on the fans used in Japanese Noh plays. Every detail is part of the overall symbolism of the character of the play. Noh fans are copied a lot for tourists, but still very pretty.
Fan 5 is an advertising fan, probably given to your mother when she visited the shop of mr Ramsamy. The picture is of mt Fuji.
The wooden Bali one could be 1960's.
Fan 7: Central Javanese Wayang Kulit style buffalo skin and horn brisee fan. These are used by Indonesians but mainly made for the tourist market. Wayang is the traditional shadow puppet play, kulit means skin. In central Java the Wayang puppets are made of buffalo skin mounted on buffalo horn. Real buffalo of course, not bison.
The term brisee or brisé is used for fans that are made of similar size and shaped leaves, strung on a ribbon or strong thread.
Fan 6 has a Japanese theme, but is Western in style.
Fan 3, again, looks southeast Asian, also a fan that would have been bought by locals as well as tourists.
Ostrich feather fan 1 is either an original, ca 1910-1920, or a later theatre prop replica.
Fan 2 is original, ca 1910, with original ribbon.
It is difficult to tell the materials of 1 and 2, possibly celluloid. Do you have detailed pictures of the material, the pivots and bracket/brackets?

 

So you get an idea, this is a Wayang Kulit puppet:

 

Fan9b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 7:55 PM

Fan1c by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 7:55 PM

Fan1b by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 7:55 PM

Fans by Bsan1001 posted Mar 6, 2017 at 7:55 PM

That does look like the other side of that fan. Thanks. I thought it was so unusual.

Here is the stick and stem of the ostrich fan, I also have one in black. Also the closed picture of fan 9. I also have included a photo of the fans I inherited which is only a small portion of the entire amount that she had. I wish I had been able to grab some more of the ones that I loved. She had the walls of one room covered in hand fans.

 

The ostrich one is some sort of plastic. Did you notice the number 1014 just below the molded floral decoration of the guard stick? Probably a theatre prop.

Most of the fans in your collection are souvenir fans. Because they fold, they fit in a suitcase or handbag, so they are nice memento's of her travels.
The ones with the broad lace trim are typically southern European.
The little wooden one is sandalwood, Chinese. In Indonesia they sprinkle water on these so they get the sandalwood scent every time they fan themselves. Nice in hot weather, but it stains the wood.
The one with the landscape against a black background and bamboo frame is Indonesian.
The lace ones could have been bought anwhere. Machine lace, not in a rounded fan shape, so not antique. Just pretty.

Sorry, I should have explained the position of the closed fan better. Below is a picture of the view that is best for telling Chinese from Japanese. If you could photograph yours like the central one?

 

There were so any different fans on my nan's walls, I wish I'd grabbed more of the special looking ones.

 

Thanks, it is Japanese.

Sometimes it is hard to know which ones are special as collectibles, so it is best to take the ones you really like. They are part of your memory of your nan.

 

I agree. I was able to get a beautiful little wedgewood miniature vase that I had always loved, two Limoges plates, although I accidentally broke one, and books I'd loved as a child. So many old Beatrix potter books that I would read when I was there. I also got a large set of palissey game series china. As well as some jewellery that has gone to my mother, some marcasite I have, some glomesh bags with original mirrors still in the boxes, and the crown jewel is my nans wedding dress. I would hope to wear it one day but she had an 18 inch waist when they got married.

 

Lovely porcelain.
And the wedding dress, I am sure your nan would have liked that. That means either a diet or an alteration. Mind you, 18 inch, you'd have to be petite anyway. It has been years since I had an 18 inch waist.

 

Don't know if the porcelain is worth anything. I know the palissey series is. I have 105 pieces and they range between 10 and 60 dollars a piece or more. I'm assuming from euros that I've found online.
I am definitely not petite, I wish, but thankfully this dress has at least two inches inside on either side where it was taken in for her.

 

That is a nice sum for the Palissy game series. You can post your porcelain in the pottery, glass and porcelain forum, I'm sure they will be able to tell you more.
There is also a jewelry forum, and a textiles, needle art and clothes forum, for your Glomesh bags. Complete with mirrors and original boxes, should be worth something too. By the way, Glomesh, are you in New Zealand or Australia by any chance?

 

I am in Australia lol.
My grandparents house was filled with everything from carnival glass to those mugs that I can't think of the name of right now that have faces on them.

 

...Toby mugs.

Agree with Any Jewelry...

You can post your porcelain in the pottery, glass and porcelain forum, I'm sure they will be able to tell you more.
There is also a jewelry forum, and a textiles, needle art and clothes forum, for your Glomesh bags.

Use a new category when posting additional items. Sometimes folks look at a post once and don't go back if it isn't their specialty.

You got great info from Any Jewelry on these fans, etc. Very nice!