18th Century Fans
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Glasgow Museums has a small collection of ten eighteenth century fans, two with fan boxes, dating from 1730 to 1798.
During the 1700s fans became an increasingly-fashionable accessory for a well-dressed European woman to have. Fans ranged from luxury objects made from expensive materials, such as ivory and silk, some even with jewelled guards to mass-produced fans made from bone or wood, many with printed paper leaves. The majority were folding fans made with pleated paper or vellum leaves attached to sticks with long guards at either end. The best fans were believed to be made in France and were highly sought after. However, by the end of 1700s the increased number of trade routes between Europe and China led to large numbers of brisé fans, which are made with full-length sticks rather than leaves, being imported.
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