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My mother recently purchased this painted fan at auction. From what I can gather it's a leaf, since there is no kind of boning. It is simply stunning, but it's hard to get any kind of information about it or where it might have come from. It's about 24 inches by 18 inches. Seems to be on paper, but it's in plexiglass. Someone wrote on it, "Lotus Fan for Bob with Love from William '89". The brushwork is so intricate! It looks as though it was painted with real gold. The auction listed it as Samoan, which I don't think is right.
On pickup, the auctioneer told us a crazy tale. Said this fan was purchased at auction in the 1940s for $15,000. The man brought it back home, had it mounted in plexiglass, and it's been there ever since. Which would mean the gift inscription was from 1889. Would be a strange thing to make up, seeing as she had already paid him for the item.
The thing is, there's no signature to be found. The lotuses give me a few ideas on where it might be from, but am in over my head on this one. Have any of you ever seen something like this?
Hi Monica,
Welcome to the forum.
The short answer from me, is no I haven't. Was it a circular fan that has been cut down? Or could it be part of a parasol ?
Have you got a photo of the writing, please? The style should indicate whether it is 1889 or 1989.
As for the auctioneers tale, it seems an odd to thing to make up after the sale but if true, why not include that as provenance ? I was suspicious enough to look up when plexiglass was first made.😊
Julia
I see the writing, sorry! It doesn't look written by a young hand. It could have been written around 1940 or been there earlier.
Can you learn anything from the encasement ? What is on the other side ?
It may be worth asking at museums.
@julia Directly on the flip side of the fan, I can see some of it by looking directly down. It appears to be white paper. I don't see any kind of markings or anything like that. There's about 8 strings suspending the fans in place. The showcase box is all I can see on the back side, with some string sticking out.
I'm fairly certain this was never intended to be used as a fan. Like this was just the canvas the artist chose for their painting.
I did message a few people who might be able to help, I'm sure one of them will know. I'm just too curious to leave it be until then.
I can understand that, I would be the same. 😊
If no one on here can answer your query, please let us know if you hear anything useful from elsewhere.
It's an unusual looking piece. More like abstract art. Definitely doesn't look Chinese in any traditional sense. The $15,000 story is suspect without any documentation to substantiate. Are you able to say who the auctioneer is? Also if you don't have luck with others you can submit to Peter. He has knowledge of many things even non Asian so it's possible he could know.
@johnshoe Sure, I'm not taking that as gospel. The man might have had a gambling problem and said this fan cost him 15K. He might have just been very bad at appraisal. That is just the story his wife told to the auctioneer. I was skeptical but I was also overwhelmed at it's beauty. The brush strokes around the outside are so ornate that it had to have been made by a skilled craftsman.
I don't have a firm reason to think that it's Chinese for sure. But there are only so many countries with a tradition of fan painting, using the iconography of a lotus, and with the financial means to support an artistic class to produce something like this, with this quality of material.
Thanks for all the help so far!
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