This useful and beautifully designed accessory was introduced to Europe through trade routes in the second half of the 16th century.
Ownership of a folding fan very quickly became an exotic and stylish symbol of wealth and class. An industry specifically based on the manufacture of the folding fan rapidly evolved and gradually amalgamated into guilds such as "The Worshipful Company of Fan Makers".
Once the construction of the Japanese folding fan was adopted, European and English materials and decorations were incorporated into the design.
The ribs and guards supporting the leaves were made from ivory, mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell. These materials were often carved or pierced, ornamented with silver, gold and precious stones.
The design of the delicate piercing often reflected the hand-made lace incorporated into clothing that was fashionable at the time.
The leaves of the fan were painted by artists using watercolours or oils, and the design positioned to accommodate the curve of the structure.
The painted images were based on a wide range of ornamentation or popularised pictorial and political subjects. Often both sides were painted, each with a different scene and the leaf edged in gold or silver.
Sometimes the fan was left unpainted to showcase the beauty and intense colour of the leaf.
As these elegant and beautiful clothing accessories became increasingly popular, a fan etiquette evolved amongst the elite.
So strong was this sentiment that the publisher of "The Spectator", Joseph Addison, started an academy for women to be trained in the use and handling of a fan. He recorded that "women are armed with fans as men with swords, and sometimes do more execution with them".
Not only were fans beautiful and practical objects to carry on a warm day, they were supposedly the means to a secret language when used by a lady (unmarried or married) in social gatherings.
This was particularly evident during the Victorian era where the intrigue of courtship and love was revered, despite the strict moral code and rules of etiquette in place in society.
At any social occasion, a young unmarried women was accompanied by a chaperone, (usually their mother or a married woman) to ensure nothing improper with a gentleman occurred.
To fob off the chaperone, the fan proved a surreptitious way of conveying a hidden message to the recipient of a burgeoning romantic attachment. Like the steps of an elaborate dance, women learnt to convey their emotions and express desires through the subtle movement of the fan.
Outwardly flirtatious behaviour was seriously frowned upon, however, by inadvertently touching her right eye with a closed fan a young woman indicated to a gentleman when she would be able to able to see him, while touching the tip of the fan with a finger indicated that she wished to speak with him.
Conversely, by opening and closing the fan several times she is teasing that he is being cruel.
To show interest in a particular gentleman, our bold protege would hold the fan in her left hand in front of her face to show she was desirous of his acquaintance.
Or, by looking directly at her chosen one and placing the fan close to her heart, she indicated he had won her love.
By shutting a fully open fan slowly, she is promising to marry her beloved.
To end a relationship she had several choices: a swift drawing of a fan through the hand meant she hated the gentleman in question; and by twirling the fan in the right hand meant that she loved another. It would have been easy to get muddled with this particular signal, as by twirling the fan in left hand it indicated they were being watched.
With regard to the gentlemen, it is unclear whether they mastered this secret language of the fans.
• Gail Pope is social history curator at the MTG.
