Unfolding Pictures: A Pair of “Pen Work” Hand Screens, 1800-1825

Hand Screen
Wood, Pen Work, Lacquer
1800-1825
The Victoria & Albert Museum

As we know, hand screens (or face screens) served a dual purpose. Not only were they employed to protect a lady’s makeup from the heat of the fire, but also were displayed on a mantelpiece as decoration.


In the early Nineteenth Century, Chinese-inspired designs dominated the style of face screens which were made of wood, upholstered card or papier mache. This pair of wooden hand screens dates between 1800 and 1825 and is an excellent example of Pen Work.

Pen Work was often used to replicate the look of black Chinese lacquer with gilded adornment. Chinoiserie items were often quite expensive. Pen Work allowed for the look of these dear objects without the cost. All that was needed was a little skill.

The Victoria & Albert Museum

A scalloped, thin piece of light-colored wood was painted black, leaving the areas of the desired pattern unpainted. The pattern was filled-in with Indian ink and fine quill pen. Then, the entire screen was varnished. The unpainted parts of the wood would take on a golden hue which only became richer over time. After a few years, the finished product was almost indistinguishable from actual Chinese lacquer with gilt designs.

This technique was not just used in the making of hand screens, but was a staple of the decorative arts and furniture making. Such screens weren’t considered fashion accessories in the way that traditional folding fans were, but rather, were considered to be furnishings—part of the décor and usefulness of a room.

Unfolding Pictures: The Eu Fan, 1886 (Reposted from May 12, 2011)

Antique Hand Fan
Eugène Lami, 1886
French
The Royal Collection

This fan with its splendidly painted leaf, magnificent carved ivory sticks and guards with applied silver, diamonds, rubies and sapphires which form the letters “M.A.” had long been admired by Mary of Teck who had an eye for such things.


The fan was the property of French Queen Amélie and represented the work of one of the finest fan-makers in France, Eugène Lami. The fan’s leaf depicts a scene of the Château d’Eu, the country residence of the Orléans family, as it would have appeared in the Seventeenth Century.

Queen Amélie bequeathed the fan to Queen Mary upon her death in 1953, but Queen Mary died weeks later and never received the fan. It was delivered to HM Queen Elizabeth II—Queen Mary’s granddaughter--in 1954.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Fan, 1937

Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Fan
Ostrich Feathers, Tortoiseshell, gold, diamonds
English, 1937
The Royal Collection

The art of creating large and elegant fans from ostrich feathers reached a pinnacle in the mid Nineteenth Century. Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, had always admired these antique fans. For the 1937 coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Worshipful Company of Fan-makers banded together to create a special gift for their new queen. As was tradition, they sought to make the fan entirely from materials native to Great Britain.


The result is this magnificent fan of ostrich feathers with blond tortoiseshell guards and sticks. Made in the style of the mid-Nineteenth Century, the fan is the work of Charles Beale Gunner of the Worshipful Company of Fan-makers who included a crowned “Double E” cipher in gold (supplied by R. & S. Garrard & Co.) on the front guard.

Before it was presented to the future Queen, the fan was displayed for all to see—along with many of the other coronation gifts. The Queen Mother never really used the fan. For this reason, it’s in remarkably good condition, retaining its original box.