صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

It is a matter of question whether the fan came direct to us from the East during the Crusades, in the reign of Richard II., or was imported from Italy in that of Henry VIII., more than a century afterwards. At any rate, it is not until the time of Elizabeth that we find it popularly used; but at this period, both sexes wore it, and young gentlemen who would have thought it shockingly effeminate to be seen in a coach, made no scruple of carrying fans and feathers in their hands, which in war, continues our authority, "their ancestors wore on their heads." In the "Book of Table Talk," (a modern work,) we learn that men, in the south of Italy, continue to use them, and that it is no unusual thing, in sultry weather, to see a captain of dragoons, moustached and "bearded like the pard," fanning himself with all the graces and dexterity of a young coquette.

In a collection of ancient costumes we find the fan making its first appearance in the simple form of a single ostrich plume; but soon after it is formed of three or four feathers fastened into a handle; the more costly of these handles being composed of gold, or silver, or ivory, curiously wrought and occasionally set with precious jewels. Wharton, in the Sidney Papers, mentions a fan presented to Queen Elizabeth, the handle of which was studded with diamonds; and Nichols, in his progresses of the same royal lady, in a list of jewels presented to her at New Year's Tide, in 1589, mentions a "Faune of fethers, white and red, the handle of gold enamelled with a half moone of mother of perles, within that a half moone, garnished with sparks of dyamonds and a few seede perles; the one side having her Majesty's picture, and on the other a device with a crown over it."

This superb trinket was the offering of Sir Francis Drake. Looking-glasses were sometimes set in the broad part of these fans, as we still see them at Duvelléroy's, in those intended for the use of the ladies of the Harem. They were placed at the summit of the hardle just below the feathers, which were very frequently the beautifully colored one's of the peacock's tail

These fabled eyes of Argus had been a favorite material for the flabellum of the ancients; but the Elizabethan form and mode of mounting them was a great improvement on that of the ancients, who, after binding the separate feathers at the base, further united them by a thread passing along their tips, and another tied to the middle of the shaft of each feather, after which they were attached to a handle nearly two feet long, and were thus fixed, and except when moved bodily, inflexible.

The feather fans of the sixteenth century, on the contrary, were light, graceful, and easily handled; and we learn from Marston's Satires that as much as forty pounds were occasionally given for them; a

* Some wooden fan-handles, from Memphis, in the R. B. Museum, measure from 1 ft. 5 in. to 1 ft. 6 in. length.

large sum in these days, but insignificant compared with the price of some modern ones, of which we shall have occasion to speak.

In an old comedy of 1610, called the "Fleire," it is said: "She hath a fan with a short silver handle, a description which reminds us that the handle of the fan, when Shakspeare wrote, was the most valuable part of it; and lets us into the secret of Falstaff's observation in the second act and second scene of "The Merry Wives of Windsor," where the Knight upbraids Pistol with the obligation he is under to him, and amongst other matters reminds him that "when Mistress Bridget lost the handle of her fan," he "took 't upon his honor HE (Pistol) had it not." Steevens, in his notes upon this passage, has given four cuts of these fans, one from the frontispiece of a play of 1616, ("Englishmen for My Money,") the others from drawings by Titian and his brother Cesare Vecelli, in "Habiti Antichi e Moderni di tutto il Mondo." (Venice, 1598.)

It is rather singular, that in Herbé's "Costumes Français," the fan does not make its appearance till between 1540 and 1550, although it is stated, on good authority, that as early as 1522, the master fan-makers made one of the Companies of Arts and Manufactures of Paris and its environs; a circumstance which proves that even at this period the business had become one of considerable importance.

It was not until many years subsequent to the first East Indian voyage from this country, which was in 1591, that the folding fan of the Orientals superseded the ever-open ones of our ancestral fashionables; and though Herbé has placed one in the hands of a demoiselle so early as the time of Catherine de Medicis, other authors date their introduction into France to the return of some missionaries from China, in the reign of the luxurious Louis Quatorze.

The quaint and elaborate carving of the Chinese, till within the last few years, was better known to our sex through the medium of the card-case and fan, than from any other articles of commerce; and exquisitely as the tiny watch-spring saw used by the French artificers enables them to work the most delicate designs in the bone, or ivory, or mother-ofpearl brins of the French fan, the miracles of minutiæ effected in the same space by the patient craftsmen of the Celestial Empire, surpass whatever European fan-makers have hitherto executed in this branch of their art; and, at the present time, China may be considered the only country that prevents the French from enjoying a monopoly in the manufacture of this article.

Madame de Genlis, who appears to imagine the fan a pure invention of French modesty, informs us, that prior to the Revolution it was worn of a large size, and served the ladies who often blushed, at once for a veil and a countenance. "By agitating the fan," continues the Mother of the Church," the

"La Mère de l'Eglise," a name given to Madame de

female concealed herself. In the present time ladies blush but little, and are not at all timid; they have no desire whatever to conceal themselves, and they carry only invisible fans," (des éventails imperceptibles.)

Lady Morgan, with her usual archness, reminds us that those vaunted times of excessive delicacyso far as the fan was concerned-were those of Agnes Sorel, Diana of Poictiers, Mdes. de Montespan, Pompadour, and Du Barri; a series suggestive of the pretty hypocrisies of the periods, as well as of the coarseness and freedom of conversation and manners which subjected the fair companions of kings and courtiers to the reality or affectation of such a frequent repetition of blushing.

The ladies of the court of our Charles the Second, in whose time as well as that of his successor, fans became very fashionable, if not less faulty dames than Madame de Genlis's Dianas, as Lady Morgan calls them, were at least more frank:

"The modest fan was lifted up no more,

And virgins smiled at what they blushed before." Or, if they did blush at the Bull in Vere Street, Clare Market, or afterwards at Drury Lane, at the comedies acted there by Killigrew's company in broad daylight, it was under a mask. The fan was reserved for less serious business, and became, for all the purposes of flirting, wonderfully potent in the hands of the Hampton Court beauties.

The marriage of James the Second with the princess of Modena, maintained for our subject the popularity it had gained in the preceding reign; but it was not until the latter part of that of Anne, in 1709, that it became of sufficient importance as a branch of national manufacture, to bring about the incorporation of the Fan-makers' Company in London.

During this Queen's reign, which may be called the "golden age" of fan-making, as well as of some other matters, this "ornamental trinket" was used by women of almost every degree, "to hide their faces at church, and to cool them by gently exciting the air, in sultry weather and close places." It was indeed the high tide of the fan's fashion, no lady's dress being complete, whether at ball, or supper, morning promenade, or evening drive, unless one hand held the indispensable fan, which was either painted or composed of feathers. High art was at this period occasionally employed in ornamenting them; and amongst other exquisite specimens with which our researches for this paper have acquainted us, we were shown, at an elegant repository of antique fans, one, the mount of which, representing a Greek wedding, was painted in those days by Watteau.

Arcadian scenes, such as the French painters still often choose with which to decorate them, ap

Genlis, on the occasion of her publishing "La Religion Considerée."-LADY MORGAN.

VOL. XLV.--2

pear to have been the most usual subjects; and Addison, in his charming paper on the exercise of the fan, alludes, in his paragraph on unfurling it, to the effect of this manoeuvre, discovering on a sudden an infinite number of Cupids, garlands, altars, birds, beasts, and rainbows. We were treated the other day to the sight of one, that, if not Watteau's, looked very like his; it represented a trio in a triumphal car in the centre, drawn by lions led by Cupids, with nymphs dancing, with musical instruments before them, and others scattering fruits and flowers in the path. But occasionally, less poetical subjects were chosen, and in the reign of George the Second, we find a fan-painter named Loggan,† sketching, for his professional purpose, from the windows of his house, at the south end of the walk at Tunbridge Wells, the most remarkable characters that appeared amongst the company; with such fidelity, Richardson tells us, that they were immediately recognized by their forms.

It was in Addison's time that the discipline of the fan appears to have reached its perfection; the constant use of it familiarized ladies with all those graceful and coquettish motions of which the instrument is capable; and by many allusions in the writings of the period, it appears to have been almost as dangerously fascinating in the hands of English ladies then, as it still is in those of the Spanish donnas.

"Women," says the essayist, "women are armed with fans, as men with swords, and sometimes do more execution with them; an expression playfully seconded in his Chapter on the "Mother of Poetry," by one or two cases on a list of metaphorical deaths, one of which reports "Tim Tattle killed by the tap of a fan on his left shoulder by Coquetilla, as he was talking carelessly with her in a bow-window;" while Sylvius is shot through the sticks of one at St. James's Church. These are precisely such effects (figuratively speaking) as the novelists are fond of giving to the fan in the hands of a Spanish lady, who to a natural grace of action and consummate practice in the use of the implement (which, from her third year, is scarcely ever out of her hand), adds all those piquant arts which the love of coquetry, and the consciousness of surveillance inspires; and, as flowers in the East, from similar causes, have grown eloquent, so the love of intrigue on the one hand, and the necessity of deceit on the other, have given language to the movements of the fan in Spain; and ladies are said to make appointments by means of them, the peculiar manner of opening, holding, and shutting them indicating the how, when, and where. After the French revolution of 1789, which introduced Madame de Genlis's "éven

*Spectator, No. 102.

He had been dwarf to the Prince and Princess of Wales, and, in spite of his diminutive size, appears to have been a person of considerable intellect.

tails imperceptibles," the manufacture of fans fell almost wholly into English hands, and both the American and Spanish markets were, for the most part, supplied by English makers.

The only peculiarities of the Spanish fan are its size and shape (the half circle we at present make use of), and the necessity, in technical phrase, of its playing easily. Without this virtue, however otherwise attractive, it would not please the Iberian dames; who never use more than one hand in practising the fan; its evolutions for the most part being effected by the turn of the wrist, so that any stiffness of the rivet which confines the radiants at the base, would of course preclude this ease of motion, and the graceful effects consequent upon it.

The battle of Waterloo appears to have been as fatal to this branch of manufacture in England, as the revolution had been in France.

With the peace, this branch of art, in common with others, began to revive at Paris and elsewhere. The scattered artificers returned to their ateliers, and French fans, not only from their elegance, but comparative cheapness, extinguished the English trade. In point of fact, there are no fan-makers in London; those who call themselves so, simply dealing in the article, which is imported from China and France. The largest manufactory in Paris is that of M. Duvelléroy. This house alone employs more than two thousand men, and fans are manufactured in it from the value of a halfpenny to several thousand francs each; yet the commonest of these, as well as the most costly, passes through the hands of fifteen individuals, before it is ready for use, or for the retailer. Not only the different parts which compose the fan, but those parts themselves, give occasion for a division of labor; the leaf, which is sometimes simple, but more frequently made of two pieces pasted together, passes through the hands of the printer, paster, colorist, and painter, before it is mounted-this last operation being usually performed by women; the process of plaiting is executed by means of a board, cut for that purpose, upon the principle of a crimping machine, upon the exactness of which the perfection of the fan in folding depends. Beside mounting, the fan passes in the women's workshop through the hands of the borderer, who fixes the edge; the borderest, who finishes it; and, finally, through those of the examiner, who minutely scrutinizes every part of the work.

In the meanwhile, the other portions of the toy have given employment to no less than seven individuals; the handle or wood, as it is indifferently called, which forms the frame of the fan, and upon the radiants of which the leaf is pasted, has passed from the smoother who planes, to the fashioner who cuts it out, then to the finisher who polishes it; afterwards to the carver who cuts the designs on the ivory, tortoise-shell, mother of-pearl, ebony, horn, or any other material of which the handle is formed. It is

then handed to the engraver, who ornaments the metal, after which it passes from the gilder to the riveter, who fastens the two outside ends (which the French call the panache), and the brins, or radiants, with a rivet passing through the base of them all; sometimes set with diamonds or other precious stones, or it may be gold, or mother-of-pearl, or simply wood, according to the price of the article.

One most exquisite specimen which was shown us amongst the antique fans before mentioned, had the leaf formed of the most delicate point d'Angleterre, mounted on carved mother-of-pearl brins, finished with a brilliant rivet; it was at once so simple and elegant, that all we afterwards saw could not displace the impression of its superiority.

Its superiority, we should remark, was acquired from the lace of which it was composed. The idea, we believe, originated with the proprietor, and we were told it was the only house that possessed anything of the kind.

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, sunfans made of green silk, or paper, and of an immense size, were worn instead of parasols, and for a time gave considerable employment to the manufacturers, while the spangled fans so popular in the young days of our mammas afforded a respectable livelihood to numbers of our sex-an income of from fifty to sixty pounds per annum being easily earned at it.

Female reigns have always proved auspicious to our subject. It grew into vogue in that of Elizabeth, reached the climax of its popularity with us in that of Anne, and why may we not hope for the revival of its manufacture in that of Victoria, the noblo Patroness of Art and Science?

I'M LONELY HERE WITHOUT THEE.

BY CLARA J. H.

I'm lonely here without thee,
Though others round me are;
I miss from day its sunshine,
And from the night its star.

The green trees look not half so green,
The flowers not half so bright;
It is thy presence, love, I want,

To give them clearer light.
Then come to me: my heart awaits,
With greeting warm and true.
Thy loved caress; it droops without,
As flowers for want of dew.

I've none to tell of all the love

I've garnered up for thee:
My heart will break if it must keep
Such heavy secrecy.

Then come, oh come! I'm lonely here,
Though others round me are;

I miss from day its sunshine,
And from the night its star.

COSTUMES OF ALL NATIONS. THIRD SERIES.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE TOILET IN THE MOGUL AND BIRMAN EMPIRES.

THE dress of the princes and nobles in Homer's time resembled the jama, girdle, and kincob drawers, flowered with gold and silver, now worn by the Moguls, as we find by the description of Ulysses in his royal attire; and it is worthy of notice that the custom of making presents of garments, as men

tioned in the last two lines, has continued ever since, and is still prevalent among Eastern nations. In the description of the reception of the ambassadors sent by the Uzbek Tartars to Aureng-Zêbe, we read that he commanded there should be given to each of the ambassadors a seraph, or vesture from head to foot-namely, a vest of brocade, a turban, and a sash of silk in embroidery.

The dress of Hyder Ali, the most formidable enemy the English ever met with in the East, like that of most of the natives of India, consisted of a robe of white muslin, with a turban of the same. The vest, which is fashioned much like the gown of a European lady, is fastened at the body and sleeves by strings; the rest of the robe hangs loosely in folds, so that the grandees of India, when they walk, have a page to support their train.

Forbes gives the following description of the dress

of a Mogul lady: "Her drawers of green satin, flowered with gold, were seen under a chemise of transparent gauze, reaching to her slippers, which were richly embroidered. A vest of pale blue satin, edged with gold, sat close to her shape, which an upper robe of striped silver muslin, full and flowing, displayed to great advantage. A netted veil of crimson silk, flowered with silver, fell carelessly over her long braided hair, which was combed smooth and divided from the forehead, where a cluster of jewels was fastened by strings of seed pearl. Her earrings were large and handsome-the ring worn in her nose, according to our idea of ornament, less becoming. A necklace, in intermingled rows of pearl and gold, covered her bosom, and several strings of large pearls were suspended from an embroidered girdle set with diamonds; bracelets of gold and coral reached from her wrist to her elbow, golden chains encircled her ankles, and all her toes and fingers were adorned with valuable rings."

The silk-net veil of a crimson or purple color, embroidered in silver, which the Mogul ladies wear, either to cover the face or to throw back over the shoulders as an ornament, is similar to that men tioned in the "Odyssey" as being presented by Helen to Telemachus:

"The beauteous queen, advancing, then displayed

A shining veil, and thus endearing said:
'Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,

Long since in better days by Helen wove;

Safe in thy mother's care the vesture lay,

To deck thy bride and grace thy nuptial day.'"

The court of Hyder Ali was the most brilliant of his time in India. His company of comedians was very celebrated, both on account of their riches and the beauty as well as the harmonious voices of the Bayadères or dancing-girls. The dimpled cheeks of these lovely creatures are tinged a yellow color, which, though a strange adornment in the eyes of a European, is much admired by the Orientals. Their black hair hangs in flowing tresses to the ground. Their dress is always made of fine gauze, very richly embroidered with gold, and they are covered with jewels. The head, neck, ears, breast, arms, fingers, legs, and toes, have each their own peculiar ornament, and even the nose is adorned with a diamond. Small bells are frequently used as ornaments by these fair maidens.

"A zone of sweet bells Round the waist of some fair Indian dancer is ringing." The Sikhs, the most rising people of modern India, next come under our observation. Runjeet Singh, their celebrated chief, like Hyder Ali, had a

[graphic]

great taste for the adornments of fashion, and was imitated in his love of fine clothes by his whole court, which was in this respect unequalled in all the East.

The Sikhs wear a small flat turban, which becomes them well, and a short tunic, which only descends as far as the knee, leaving the rest of the leg exposed. Costly brocades and shawls lined with fur are employed by the great for these tunics. The Sikhs wear their hair long; the ladies of the tribe knot it at the crown, and throw over the head a robe, which also envelops the body, and gives them a singular appearance. They pull the hair so tight to form this knot that the skin of the forehead is drawn with it, and the eyebrows are considerably removed from the visual organs.

The glowing descriptions in the "Arabian Nights" are not more gorgeous than the realities often met with in India.

A scene which took place at the Maharaja's court at Lahore is worthy of description. "The hall of audience is built entirely of marble, and is the work of the Mogul emperors; part of the roof was gorgeously decorated by a pavilion of silken cloth, studded with jewels. The Maharaja himself wore a necklace, armlets, and bracelets of emerald, some of which were very large; the nobles likewise displayed upon their persons vast quantities of jewels, and all the court was habited in yellow, the favorite color of the nation."

The neighbors of the Sikhs, the Scindians, from religious motives, wear garments of dark color, and form their turbans of tight and round folds of cloth.

The weaving and embroidery of India are justly celebrated, and have been so for many ages. The stuffs of Mooltan and Bhawalpoor are now interwoven with gold, and frequently of a purple color; and we read that Aureng-Zêbe had a tent lined with Masulipatam chintzes, figured with flowers, so natural in appearance, and of such vivid colors, that the tent resembled a real parterre.

The muslin drawers worn by the women in India are frequently most richly and beautifully embroidered with needlework, and some of them are of so fine a texture as only to allow of once putting on. Satins and silks are also embroidered in the hand, in great quantities. One of the garments worn by Aureng-Zêbe is described as having been a vest of white delicately-flowered satin, adorned with a silk and gold embroidery of the finest texture and the brightest colors.

In this country men as well as women devote much time to embroidery; and it is not unusual to see several of the former seated cross-legged on a mat, employed in a manner that in Europe would be considered effeminate, and quite below the dignity of the nobler sex. But in India the needle does not belong exclusively to woman; her prerogative is there invaded; and the most delicate patterns of tinted flowers, or muslins fine as the spider's web,

[merged small][graphic]

With the Birmans many articles of daily use as well as of ornament indicate the rank of the possessor. The shape of the betel-box, which is carried by an attendant after the people of distinction; the ear-rings, cap of ceremony, horse furniture, and even the metal drinking-cup, all indicate the different degrees of society; and woe be to him who assumes the insignia of a rank to which he has no legitimate right!

The common dress of a man of distinction consists of a tight coat with long sleeves made of muslin, or of very fine nankeen, and a silk wrapper fastened at the waist. The court-dress of the nobility is very becoming: it is formed of a long robe, either of flowered satin or velvet, reaching to the ankles, with an open collar and loose sleeves. Over this there is a scarf, or flowing mantle, that hangs from the shoulders; and on their heads they wear high caps made of velvet, or silk embroidered with flowers, according to the rank of the wearer. Earrings are an indispensable part of the attire. Some of them are made of gold tubes about three inches in length, expanding into a ball at the lower end; others consist of heavy masses of gold, the weight of which often drags the ear down to the extent of two or three inches.

The Birman women have their distinguishing ornaments as well as the men: their hair is tied in a bunch at the top of the head, and bound round with a fillet, the embroidery and jewels of which mark their respective ranks. Their dress consists of a short chemise, and a loose jacket with tight

« السابقةمتابعة »