I am looking for a little guidance on "Hand Fans"

A long story short, when my wife and I were in Greece, she picked up a tourist hand fan to cool herself down. She has been using it around the house (Damn hot flashes)

Anyway, she mentioned in passing that she has always had a fondness for hand fans. So me being the dutiful husband I am, I file that away as an item to get her for Christmas. I do my Christmas shopping pretty much year round, and figured I should look into getting her a nice older (notice I didn't say vintage LOL) hand fan.

So what I would like to know is, what should I be looking for in a fan, and what sorts of things should I pay attention to when narrowing my search down? I don't think I'll be getting her a true antique fan because I know she would like to use it and I imagine some of them are rather fragile.

Thank you for any insight you can offer, it is appreciated.

 

there are so many folding and non folding hand fans out there from all over that the simple answer is , find one that is well made, and with a design that she might like.....

 

Ahem! Personally, I am quite fond of the ostrich feather ones (Gypsy Rose Lee ilk). Might be more of a statement than you wife would enjoy, however.

 

The Indian sandalwood fans smell good.

 

I've always felt the heat in my face and neck, and can also have intense flushing from some irritants (chocolate, peppers, etc.), so I like fans. Used to have a small collection, sold off most several years ago (darn mortgage payments) - had several ivory and celluloid, a spectacular tortoise-shell, and a carved Chinese sandalwood, which brought in very good money, even with a repair. The ivories were a bit delicate, the celluloids didn't seem rigid enough to produce great air movement, and the tortoise-shell was just lovely to use, but I kept a later, mid-20th century sandalwood, quite simply because it feels so nice in the hand, large and sturdy, it has the loveliest light scent even after all these years - new sandalwood fans aren't the same at all...

~Cheryl

Similar to the one sold: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/30724595_antique-chinese-export-carved-sandalwood-fan

Similar to the one kept:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/225691307/vintage-sandalwood-fan-in-original-box?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=sandalwood fan&ref=sr_gallery_4

 

Those sandalwood ones are nice. I appreciate your thoughts on usage, and which ones seem to work better.

 

Speaking of which...I just scored a vintage hand painted fan this morning. It's brown with little flowers. The front is laquered somehow; I'm not sure what wood it's made from. There's also a much more recent and larger Chinese one printed on both sides. If someone's interested I can put pictures up in the For sale section.

 

I own about half a dozen fans (souvenirs from my travels).

I can certainly recommend sandalwood fans. Solid construction, easy to use, robust, and with a lovely tropical smell.

A good fan is one that snaps open and shut ALL THE WAY with a flick of the wrist.

ONE FLICK = Open all the way.

ONE FLICK = Closed all the way.

This works better with wooden or wood-majority constructed fans. Fans with a lot of fabric in them will jam and warp when you open and shut them - not good for rapid deployment in the tropics. Wooden fans are much better.

So long as you get a quality fan, opening and closing it enough times will 'sand down' the edges of the ribs. The constant rubbing will smooth it out, so that the more frequently you use it, the easier it is to open and close with a flick.

 

I love fans. One always travels with me to warm climes, and watching Mediterranean women use them is a delight. I own an early 19th C ivory one which is far too delicate to use. Sandalwood is good, so to are the fans made in Cyprus and elsewhere which are hand made coarse lace.

And yes, I can flick mine.

You might also buy Her Indoors a book on the language of fans.

 

@Ownedbybear

Would you happen to have a link for that book?