folding fan

folding fan , late 1800s, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)

Where object was made: China

Material/technique: ink; wood; paper

Credit line: Gift of Mrs. F. B. Dains in memory of Elizabeth Lindley

Accession number: 1945.0026

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Using the Past to Serve the Present in 20th Century Chinese Painting," Oct-2006, Ai-lian Liu, Asian Art Intern
This fan is decorated on both sides with designs that have auspicious meaning in Chinese culture. One side features peaches and flowers, symbols of longevity. Along the edges are bats and coins representing happiness and wealth, respectively. Painted on the other side are plum blossoms and orchids, two of the so-called Four Gentlemen (plum, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo) associated with such gentlemanly virtues such as purity, loyalty and integrity. Also on the reverse is the character shou, meaning longevity. Animal motives and entangled branches along the edges symbolize happy marriage.

Archive Label 2003:
This fan is decorated on both sides with designs that have auspicious meanings in Chinese culture. One side features peaches, symbols of longevity, and plum blossoms and orchids, two of the so-called Four Gentlemen (plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum) associated with such gentlemanly virtues as purity, loyalty, and integrity. Also on this side is the character shou, meaning longevity. The entangled branches along the edges symbolize happy marriage. Painted on the other side are peaches and peonies, symbols of wealth. Along the edges are bats and coins representing happiness and wealth, respectively.

Mrs. Dains presented the fan to the museum in 1945, four years before she gave the Dains’s collection.