225,00 USD
This very rare matched pair of face screens date to the 1880s and are a beautiful example of beaded needlepoint work. On the one hand without a deal of reinforcement these would not stand for being held up by their flaking gold painted hand turned wood handles (in fact the handles are currently tied to slender metal rods for partial reinforcement), but on the other hand the fans themselves as well as the handles are intact with no rips or breaks, which is so rare! The silk backing on one fan has a tear on one side but the needlepoint and beading are fine though age stained. The fringed outer trim is also intact!
In Victorian times women of a certain class not only kept themselves protected from the sun, but held these fan screens up before their faces while warming themselves before the fire, so as not to cause their porcelain complexions to redden. The fans themselves are 9 1/2 inches long by 8 inches wide, and the wood handles are also 9 1/2 inches in length.