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Two 16th-Century-Style Fans

By: Catherine Griffith (SCA: Baroness Catherine Grace Fitzlewis QC)

Fans, in the 16th century were an important woman’s accessory. They denoted Status and wealth, shielded one from the heat of day and the flushing affects of being warmed by a fire, as well as being used as a tool to flirt and cover your mouth in order to whisper to someone and not have your lips read buy other courtiers in a room.

There were many variations on the types of fans, and the use of styles varied from class to class, and country to country. In England during the during the mid to latter part of the 16th century, the two most painted styles seem to be folding fans, the style of which was imported from Asia, and feather fans. Italy also had these styles, but used Flag fans or Weathervane fans with equal frequency.

 

The fans that I chose to make for this project are of the Ostrich Feather Variety. Most of the fans you see of this style appear to be either made of metal, or gilt. The only extant fan handle I could find was brass that was guilt.

 

However I did find extant fans made of other materials, these flag fans are made of wood and ivory. I do not have the skills of a metal worker, or caster, and I did not feel that I really had the skills to gild something and not have it come off in my hand as I held it. As such, I used a medium I did know, wood.

I started with 2 American woods that closely match their Medieval European Counterparts, walnut and ash, I had never wood turned before and decided that a fan handle would be a good starter project. I started buy cutting the wood into the shape I would need to begin turning.

I had to be careful while lathing this as the spinning portion at the left could have very easily been a knuckle breaker. I turned the thin portion at the right into a cylinder and then eventually made my design. After lathing the handle I then needed to cut the upper portion that would hold the feathers. I used several portraits to help determine the shape I wanted. I cut out the shapes, carved the designs that I wanted and then added brass, ivory, horn, mirror and antler as the inlay.

 

I inlayed Brass and ivory into the walnut handle to add dimension and sparkle and I added a mirror on the back as I found in this account of a fan in queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe:

'One fanne of feathers of divers colours, the handle of golde, with a base and a ragged staffe on both sides [obviously a gift from some member of the Dudley family] and a looking glasse on throne side' proves that, contrary to report, Elizabeth actually carried a mirror.’
(pg. 628 - The Reign of Queen Elizabeth)

I have affection for things that are slightly imperfect, as though they were older then they are, and as such I sanded the back of the mirror and rubbed varnish over the surface, in order to achieve a dirty worn look. The mirror is framed by leading and antler with a few brass accents.

 

I oil rubbed the walnut as a finish then the feathers were glued into a channel that I had previously cut out. The ash was fun to work with as a relative of the olive tree it had the most wonderful smell as I turned it. This one is a gift for my Laurel, and as such I used a portion of her device to decorate it, a cinquefoil, I added horn in the middle as an inlay and a few brass details. I made the feathers a little more upright on this one, as there are examples of a variety of spreads. This was also oil rubbed, and the feathers were glued in afterwards.

I hope you found this informative, and I would love to answer any questions you may have.