The Flickr Vintagefan Image Generatr

If you know me, or follow my photostream, you will know that I am a collector of many things. Amongst other objects, I love to collect vintage accessories. This includes antique fans, of which I now have a sizable collection. My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. Such is the case for this French one from the 1870s, which is made of black silk which has then been hand painted with a sprig of dainty pale pink roses. If you look closely, you will see there are a few places along the folds where the delicate silk has perished opening a gap in the fabric and in one place breaking a hand painted rose in two. The splays of the fan are made of ornately carved ebony. European fans like this were predominantly used as a symbol of wealth, with many portraits of the era depicting this item in the hands of aristocrats. European fans typically have sticks made of wood or ivory, whilst the leaves of the fan were made from many different materials such as lace, silk or feathers. Being so fragile, this fan, like my entire fan collection, is kept carefully in acid free paper, and stored out of the light, to help avoid any further deterioration of the material. In spite of its damage, considering this fan is around one hundred and sixty years old, it is in remarkable condition. I have photographed it against a backdrop of a piece of machine embroidered floral fabric that I recently acquired from an upmarket fabric shop, which sells fabrics by the quarter metre, which is just the perfect size for my photography purposes!

The theme for "Smile on Saturday" for the 21st of September is "focus on F…", where a photograph of something beginning with the letter F is required. English words that start with F are preferred and adjectives are not: only nouns. Thus, whilst this fan is fragile, which is an adjective, and it is floral, which is also an adjective, I actually photographed it because it is a fan! The fact that it is photographed on some floral fabric that fills the frame is an added bonus, and only done to show off the delicate fan itself. It is lovely to be able to share with you a piece of my collection of fans you will not have seen before, even though I have had it for several decades now. I hope you like my choice of image for this week, and that it makes you smile!

In British Raj era India, the punkhawallah or pankha wallah was the servant who operated the fan, often using a pulley system.

When I was growing up, on the rare occasions when my Great Grandparents turned on their old electric fan in the height of a warm summer, I remember their reminisces about the punkhawallahs in India, helping to keep them cool. Since then, I have always associated electric fans with Indian punkhawallahs!

This lovely old fan and the interesting pieces of glass, pottery and dried plants from the garden are in the studio of an accomplished artist who amongst many other things, conducts classes on paper making. I attended such a class last weekend and learned how to make my own paper from recycled paper pulp, how to dye it and how to add elements of nature to them. It was a marvellous and mindful way to spend a day!

The language of the fan was a vital aspect of a Georgian lady's expression. However, regardless of how fashionable your fan was, you would not be considered elegant unless you held it in the right way. It was believed that even the plainest woman could become attractive if she used her fan graciously. In times past, there was a whole language communicated through how and where you held your fan, or how you used it. For example, the tip of a fan placed to the lips implied “come over and converse with me”, a fan over the heart meant “I love you” and fanning yourself quickly with the fan facing up indicated “I’m single”.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 12th of November is “part of a human face”. In the last twelve to eighteen months, I have been exploring a new avenue in my photographic creativity, that of portraiture photography. I used a somewhat illusive sitter for the “Smile on Saturday” theme of “nose” in September 2021 and for “Looking Close on Friday’s” theme of “dots and stripes” in October 2011, “lips” in November 2021 and “feathers (in black and white)” in December 2021. Since that time, he has been absent from my photostream. I have asked him to return for a fifth time, and is this time showing us a bit more of his face than in previous themes. My sitter has kindly shirked his garb completely, or so it appears, and taken up one of my antique fans in a coquettish conversation with a fan. An open fan held below the eyes indicates “I’m shy, but I’m willing”. I suspect this to be correct on both counts when considering my sitter. I do hope that you like my creation for this week’s theme of “part of a human face”, and that it makes you smile… maybe even a little cheekily!

I love to collect vintage accessories. This includes antique fans. My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. Such is definitely the case with this fan. My sitter holds a Victorian fan of the 1850s of black silk which has been beautifully hand embroidered with flowers in colourful embroidery silks, which is why I left the embroidery in colour in this selective colour image. It seemed a shame to remove the colours which are still vibrant, even after one hundred and seventy years. The fan has been set on hand cut and shaped gilded wooden struts.

Did you know that the bull charging at something red is actually a fallacy? Bulls, along with all other cattle, are color-blind to red. Thus, the charging bull is likely irritated not by the muleta’s (the little red cape used by the matador) color, but by the cape’s movement as the matador whips it around.

I love to collect vintage accessories. This includes antique fans. My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful. However, I also have some Art Deco fans which whilst less ostentatious make up for that with their colour, like this red Spanish fan from the 1920s printed by hand with a bull pattern. The colour of this fan is such a vibrant red, and it probably still is so because wen I acquired it, it was still crisply sitting in its original box. I suspect it may have been bought by a tourist who went to Spain and they never actually used it.

The theme for "Smile on Saturday" for the 19th of February is "bicolora", so only two colours are allowed in the photo. Therefore, I have placed my red 1920s Art Deco fan against a black velvet background to match the black of the hand printed bulls, thus having only red and black in the photo. I hope that you like my choice and that it makes you smile.

The theme for “Looking Close on Friday” for the 10th of December is “feathers (black and white)”. In recent months, I have been exploring a new avenue in my creativity, that of portraiture photography. I used my sitter for the “Smile on Saturday” theme of “nose” a little over two months ago, a little over a month ago for “Looking Close on Friday’s” theme of “dots and stripes” and then again a few weeks ago for “Looking Close on Friday’s” theme of “lips”. Now you can complete the image of my elusive sitter, who has agreed to return for a fourth time, and is this time showing us an eye. Put it together with his nose and lips and you almost have a full face… almost! My sitter has kindly shirked his garb completely, or so it appears, and taken up one of my antique fans in a coquettish fan dance.

I love to collect vintage accessories. This includes antique fans. My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. My sitter holds an ostrich feather and tortoiseshell fan from the early 1900s. The struts are made of tortoiseshell and the fan itself is made from bleached ostrich plumes. Usually, ostrich feathers were bleached to make them white, such as this fan, or to then colour them to match a lady’s outfit. If you do not approve of tortoiseshell or ostrich feather plumes being used for ornamentation, I thoroughly respect that, but please appreciate the fact that this object was created before either you or I were born, in a less enlightened time when it came to the wellbeing and care of our precious animals.

I do hope that you like my creation for this week’s theme of “feathers (black and white)”, and that it makes you smile… maybe even a little cheekily!

In western culture, a fan dance (a dance performed with fans) may be an erotic dance performance, traditionally by a woman, but not exclusively. Beyond eroticism it is a form of musical interpretation. The performer, sometimes entirely nude or apparently so, dances while manipulating two or more large fans that can be constructed from many different materials including ostrich feathers, silks, velvet, sequined and organza fabrics. The unifying factor in all are the spins, or fan staves, that give form to this prop.

The Victorians and Edwardians were very big on catching and displaying animals, be it taxidermy for educational purposes such as those that featured in the first modern museums created in the Victorian era, the big game hunters who sought lions and other exotic animals for their horns, tusks and hides to display, or for Victorian and Edwardian consumerism such as this fan. Four hundred tons of South African ostrich feathers were brought through St Katherine’s Dock in just one year alone, and at a value of four million pounds, were all used for women’s headdresses, hats and fans.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 10th of July is “eyeglasses”, but the photo had to show the glasses without someone wearing them. A few weeks ago, for the “Looking Close on Friday” theme of “feathers”, I posted a photograph of one of my antique fans. I love to collect vintage and antique accessories. This includes antique fans, reticules, purses, gloves and I even have a few pairs of antique glasses, so when the theme was announced, I thought these might be a pleasantly different and unusual choice.

This Victorian lorgnette was made in Austria around the turn of the Twentieth Century. Very cleverly made, the lorgnette can easily be folded up to form a pendant monocle. The gold light caught in the glass on the left is the reflection of my pendant light overhead. With a silver and ebonised wood handle, I imagine that the Viennese owner quite enjoyed taking these with her to the city’s many theatres, not so she could watch the show on stage for which she had opera glasses, but so she could watch the fashion show of elegantly dressed ladies around her. Thus, I have placed the lorgnette against a backdrop of items she would have needed for an evening at the opera or the ballet: a pair of French elbow length white kid leather gloves with pearl buttons, a hand beaded reticule (the predecessor to a modern day purse) of white and cream beads and rhinestones, and a French ivory and lace fan hand embroidered with silver sequins.

My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. This Ivory and lace fan is from the early 1900s. It features sparkling silver sequins made from thinly pressed metal which are hand sewn into a pattern on the lace net. The reticule is also from the first decade of the Twentieth Century and each bead has been hand sewn onto the fabric in a complex pattern using silk thread. Although small, it would probably have taken a lady two years to hand embroider in her spare time. It would have been an item to be worn with pride (yes worn as it has a wrist strap at the back which is just as ornately beaded), showing her fine skill as a needlewoman. The French kid gloves are still beautiful and soft, even though they are well over a century old. They are very clean and look like they were seldom worn, so I keep them well wrapped up in acid free paper to keep them clean when not on display.

I love to collect vintage accessories. This includes antique fans. My favourite fans are those from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely ostentatious and beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. This is an ostrich feather and tortoiseshell fan from the early 1900s. The struts are made of tortoiseshell and the fan itself is made from naturally undyed ostrich plumes. Usually, ostrich feathers were bleached to make them white or to then colour them to match a lady’s outfit. This one is unusual in the fact that it hasn’t been coloured. The fan has been carefully colour graded and put together with plumes that run from paler ones at the front to darker ones at the opposite end, which makes it very striking when splayed out.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 26th of June is “feathers”. When I read the theme, I immediately thought of my collection of antique fans. I took this photo some time ago when I was curating my collection. I liked how it showed the beautiful grading of colours and the textures of the feathers. I did not imagine that I would have a cause to use it on Flickr. If you do not approve of tortoiseshell or ostrich feather plumes being used for ornamentation, I thoroughly respect that, but please appreciate the fact that this object was created before either you or I were born, in a less enlightened time when it came to the wellbeing and care of our precious animals.

The Victorians and Edwardians were very big on catching and displaying animals, be it taxidermy for educational purposes such as those that featured in the first modern museums created in the Victorian era, the big game hunters who sought lions and other exotic animals for their horns, tusks and hides to display, or for Victorian and Edwardian consumerism such as this fan. Four hundred tons of South African ostrich feathers were brought through St Katherine’s Dock in just one year alone, and at a value of four million pounds, were all used for women’s headdresses, hats and fans.

One of the things I love to collect is vintage accessories. This includes antique fans and vintage fur.

My favourite fans are from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. This is an ostrich feather and tortoiseshell fan from the early 1900s. The splats are made of tortoiseshell and the fan itself is made from naturally undyed ostrich plumes. Usually ostrich feathers were bleached to make them white or to then colour them. This one is unusual in the fact that it hasn’t been coloured. The fan has been carefully colour graded and put together with plumes that run from paler ones at the front to darker ones at the opposite end, which makes it very striking when splayed out.

The vintage fox fur in the right-hand picture comes from a Victorian tippet from around 1890. A tippet is another word for a lady’s shoulder cape. I like this one because of the bands of beautiful colours it shows. Although unmarked with a maker’s label, the tippet is well made and would have been expensive to buy originally. The fact that it has survived for well over a century is a credit to its furrier.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.

The Victorians and Edwardians were very big on catching and displaying animals, be it taxidermy for educational purposes such as those that featured in the first modern museums created in the Victorian era, the big game hunters who sought lions and other exotic animals for their horns, tusks and hides to display, or for Victorian and Edwardian consumerism such as this fan and fur tippet. Four hundred tons of South African ostrich fethers were brought through St Katherine’s Dock in just one year alone, and at a value of four million pounds, were all used for women’s headdresses, hats and fans. If you are not a fan of fur, tortoiseshell or ostrich feather plumes, I respect that, but please appreciate the fact that all these objects were created before I was born. All are pre Second World War. I do not buy new fur products.

One of the things I love to collect are antique fans. My favourites are from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. Made of silk and lace many have floral patterns painted or embroidered on them.

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

This week the theme, “unreal flowers” was chosen by me!

I thought a selection of my antique fans, would suit the theme.

Left: a French Victorian fan (circa 1880) made of ebony and black silk decorated with hand painted pink roses.

Middle: a French Edwardian fan (circa 1910) made of ebony and black French lace decorated with hand painted yellow flowers and blue butterflies.

Right: an English Victorian fan (circa 1840) made of gilded wood and black silk decorated with hand embroidered flowers.

Very vintage and rusty Pedestal Fan. From 70's.

capture this old rusty fan at a local restaurant..

1905 Seroco camera shooting a Delco vintage fan

Westinghouse fan from the late 1950's

#lapotenza #sangiorgio #sangiorgioventilatore #elettrodomestici #italy #vintage #ventilatore #vintagefan #san_giorgio_elettrodomestici

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