Lot n° 47
Estimation :
10000 - 12000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 32 500EUR
Flag fan, Italy, circa 1600 Exceptional hand screen, called - Lot 47
Flag fan, Italy, circa 1600 Exceptional hand screen, called a flag fan or fan-girouette, composed of two layers of strong paper (or parchment), cut in the manner of canivets, imitating Italian "reticella" lace. The center features a rosette set in a rectangle punctuated by stylized flowers. Three sides are bordered by a fringe of pinnacles. The motifs are enriched with sky-blue and sand silk inlaid between the two layers of paper. The shine of some of the motifs indicates a metal blade. Wooden handle veneered with white mother-of-pearl in herringbone pattern. Total length 47.5 cm - Screen length 23 cm Width 15.4 cm (screen slightly missing, mother-of-pearl missing on handle) Provenance: former Alfred Lescure collection, Paris. Alfred Lescure (1862-1913) was the director of a major lace manufacturing company in Paris. He founded a lace-making school in Issoire (Puy-de-Dôme), "La Gergovia" (1908-1914), and assembled an exceptional collection of lace from all periods for teaching purposes. This hand screen, with this handle (complete), is reproduced on page 20 in an article by Raymond Cox, devoted to "La collection Alfred Lescure", published in "Les Arts: revue mensuelle des musées, collections, expositions", n°79, July 1908. The caption reads "Cut-out parchment fan, Venice, 16th century". This hand screen is to be compared with a very similar flag fan (without handle), both in terms of decoration and size, in the collections of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna (inv. F. 332). The frieze decoration is identical. It is described as made in parchment with silk and metallic thread motifs, executed in Venice, and dated to the 16th century. Height of screen 21 cm - Width 16.3 cm It is also to be compared with a similar flag fan, with a handle ending in a vase identical to ours, illustrated in the Maciet Albums "Éventails 220" at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. It should also be compared with two other fans. The first, dated 1590-1600, is in the collections of the Musée du Louvre and is currently on loan to the Musée National de la Renaissance (inv. ECL 13549). The second, preserved in the collections of the Boston Museum (inv. 1976.182), dates from around 1590. Numerous similarities in both technique and materials can be highlighted, such as the type of cut and the inlay of blue and yellow silk. Known representations of these fans date from the Renaissance. A few Italian portraits and engravings include Giacomo Franco (1550-1620), Habiti delle Donne Venetiane (Venetian Woman's Dress), circa 1591-1610, and the portrait shown in the illustration (credits Titan Fine Arts, London). Spire Blondel in his 1875 Histoire des éventails mentions on pages 72-73: "Flag-shaped fans, or éventails-girouettes. They were made of gold cloth and silk, and were mostly seen in Venice, Naples and Padua. Titian's Woman, a masterpiece in the Dresden Gallery, holds a fan of this shape (...)". He continues, "the flag-shaped fan (...) is the one worn by married women". He mentions a single known example: "This type of fan is exceedingly rare. We know of only one unique example, belonging to Madame Achille Jubinal [née Hortense de Corbeau de Saint-Albin (1816-1874)]". This fan was sold at Hôtel 21482 in 1886. Whether it is from the Lescure collection remains to be seen. The correspondence of this design with Italian "reticella" lace is also striking. Similar designs for lace and embroidery can be found in the Italian work by Isabella Parasole (active from 1597 to 1617) "Specchio delle virtuose donne. Doue si vedono bellissimi lavori di punto in aria, reticella, di maglia, et piombini, designati da Isabella Catanea Parasole", published in Rome in 1596 (plates 7 to 26), or in Cesare Vecellio (1521?-1601), Corona delle Nobili et Virtuose Donne : nel quale si dimostra in varii dissegni ; tutte le sorti di Mostre di punti tagliati, Punti in aria, Punti à reticello, e d'ogni altra sorte, cosi per Freggi, come per Merli, & Rosette, che con l'Aco si usano hoggidi per tutta l'Europa, dating from 1597. Read Rosine Trogan "Un éventail du XVIe siècle au musée d'Ecouen", in "Éventails et sciences humaines", colloque du Cercle de l'Éventail, Paris, Les Éditions du Cercle de l'Éventail, 1995, pp. 44-53. ILLUSTRATIONS also sent Credits Titan Fine Arts, London.
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