BE sent me an 1810 folding Regency fan used in ballrooms in England, a Battoir (batting) fan of silk, embroidered with sequins and painted. The painted scene shows an elegantly dressed young and in love country couple in a horse drawn hansom cab, with trees and foliage to the sides, with a charming splash of color in the orange English hillside.
The packed, heated with fireplaces, and brightly lit with many candles soirees of the Regency Period made fans a necessary. Speaking of a nighttime ball, BE’s fan comes accented with sequins, which shot light when used in a candlelit room, the shimmer attracted rich suitors. In OUR era of masking we relate to the charm in hiding a portion of one’s face with a fan. Ever noticed how your imagination of a face is different once you see that face without a mask? I thought my plumber oh so dashing until…..
Accessories like fans considered de rigueur in early 1800’s
They wore simple gowns in that period: high waisted for evening, with short puff sleeves, in light colors with a gathered skirt, no hoops, and perhaps lace pantaloons underneath. In fact, of any era, this seems the most favorite in terms of replication. Jane Austen costume sites popup everywhere online. The pretty lines of the Regency period came as a great change from the overblown styles of the 18th century. Those included wigs, big hats, white makeup, hoop skirts, much decolletage, tight breeches for men, hours spent dressing for various events, and tons of perfume. Thus, one’s accessories in 1810 made the ‘statement.’
The reticle, a drawstring bag of five to eight by eight inches on a long ribbon, of an exotic fabric from China or India, accompanied many Regency Period fans. Then one needed GLOVES….Long, long gloves always worn both indoors and outdoors, with the exception of short gloves worn with a coat. When wearing gloves with a short sleeved gown, they reached to the puff sleeve at up to thirty inches long. They came embellished with pearls or lace, of light pastel, pink, yellow, or ecru, the color of natural linen. Long gloves, meant to bag slightly, didn’t feel tight at the top of the arm.
Another Regency Accessory
Along with BE’s fan, when outdoors, the other necessary Regency accessory was the parasol. This seems amazing when you think of England as a place with little sun. Not umbrellas, but sunshades made necessary by the short brims of the bonnets of the time. Nobody tolerated a tanned face, which spoke of ‘working class.’
Style of Regency Fans Varied
I sourced information from the Fan Museum in Greenwich, England. The construction, the sticks, of the fan were made of ivory, mother of pearl, tortoise shell, horn, precious metal. If the sticks were of carved ivory or wood, they called the fan a “Brise.” The Regency fan itself was made of silk, paper, carved ivory, lace, or embroidered fabric, feathers, and when made of paper or silk were often painted with English Society scenes, country pleasures, famous lovers, mythological scenes, and in one magnificent example, the lay-out of the Opera House so you located the pricey seats by looking at your fan, and find a suitor therein. The most delightful shape and a new development in that period was a silk fan that opens to a complete round circle.
I find it hard to put a value on something such an integral part of an 1810 soiree. I feel the hand of a lady as it waved, but the market for delicate frilly and pretty things is not all that strong today. In our era of ‘less is more;’ the market pays $800 for such a fan.
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