Overview

This book examines the long history of fans in Spain and their place within the country's decorative arts. The work is presented in seven chapters which place the fan in chronological order within its historical and social context. In addition there is a short history of the Guilds, the beginning of factory production in the early nineteenth century and a detailed account of fan-making today. The book concentrates on the infinite variety of materials used to make fans; both the importation of those materials and their handling form the nucleus of the research. Some fans were grand and gem-encrusted emblems of authority; others were mass-produced paper trifles with political advertising. Spanish-dominated Central and South American countries provided brilliantly coloured fans made from iridescent feather-mosaics, yet, just as important in their own time, were classical paintings on fans of vellum or 'chicken-skin'. The Spaniards, equating weight with value, placed much emphasis on a fan's sticks and guards. These were often Islamic-inspired in design, made from ivory, silver-filigree, lacquer, mother-of-pearl or even aromatic woods.

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9780856675942

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CHOICE Magazine (Current Reviews for Academic Libraries): Armstrong combines fascinating material...with sweeping historical panoramas Recommended.

CHOICE Magazine (Current Reviews for Academic Libraries): Armstrong combines fascinating material...with sweeping historical panoramas Recommended.

Author Information

Nancy Armstrong is an acknowledged authority on the history of fans. Her books have become the bibles of fan collecting: A Collectors' History of Fans (1974), The Book of Fans (1978) and Fans: A Collectors' Guide (1984).

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