Charlotte Bronte’s Fan
A fan, thought to have been given to Charlotte by her friend Ellen Nussey, can sometimes be seen at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth.
Fans are still used today, of course, usually for a practical purpose.
However, there is a fascinating history associated with fans, which can be traced back to at least the fifteenth century.
There are many examples of fans being used centuries before in the Far East, for example.
Entire books, museums and exhibitions are dedicated to fans and their incredible beauty and variety.
Handheld fans follow the trends of the time: their shape, patterns, design and size varied with the changing fashions.
Yet one question is at the front of our minds: who once owned this fan, and when was it ‘put to use?’
Fans of the Early Nineteenth Century
From 1800 to 1825 (Charlotte was born in 1816) fans of the time are usually small and delicate.
Materials used in fan making varied: ivory, mother of pearl, horn, wood or bone along with silk, paper and leather.
From 1825 to 1840, fans became larger and more ornate.
The length between the leafs and sticks (see below for further information) are equal to one another.
Printed lithographic fans with elaborate sticks of ivory and other materials start to become popular.
Fans were by this time a fashion accessory and were perhaps moving away from the etiquette-drenched use of them in previous centuries.
From a closed fan to a fan touching the right or left check, fans have their own language and meaning.
Charlotte makes little mention of them in her novels.
Also, the fan itself commands an entire vocabulary referring to the different parts of a fan, including guards (the two outer sticks).
In the photograph you can clearly see the outer stick on the right hand side which includes an elaborate pattern.
The sticks are the rigid supports onto which the leafs are attached.
In Charlotte’s fan, similar to the guards, an elaborate patten has been carved into the material.
The leafs form the main part of the fan, made from a pleatable material.
On Charlotte’s fan, they feature a detailed yet clear pattern, which certainly would suit Charlotte’s personality.
‘Fans’ of Charlotte Bronte I’m sure can imagine the diminutive author using this fan on hot summer days.
Further reading:
Fans by Avril hart and Emma Taylor (V&A Museum)
Fans by Helene Alexander (Shire Publications)
The Language of the Fan, Fairfax House, York
Find out more about the Bronte Parsonage Museum.