Fans protect from the sun and provide relief when it’s hot and humid. Unlabeled and made by skillful traditional craft-makers, these fans come in different shapes and sizes but never follow the trends of the decorative arts of their time. Originating from Asia, West and Eastern Africa, they are something like an archetype.
“She had a very pretty head and her hair was arranged as nearly as possible like the hair of a Greek bust, though indeed it was to be doubted if she had even seen a Greek bust. She was “artistic”, I suspected, so far as Grimwinter allowed such tendencies. She had soft, surprised eyes and thin lips, with very pretty teeth. Round her neck she wore what ladies call, I believe, a “ruche’ fastened with a very small pin in pink coral and in her hand, she carried a fan made of plaited straw and adorned with pink ribbon” (from Henry James’ Four Meetings, 1885).
