The origins of the so-called Mandarin fan lie in early 19th century China and in the profitable export trade with Europe the Chinese so successfully conducted.
The term Mandarin for porcelain decor was probably introduced first by Albert Jacquemart (1808-1875, a famous French collector of oriental pottery) to describe Chinese export porcelain which was decorated with mandarin figures in panels surrounded with flowers and ornaments. This type of export ware was very popular in the 19th century and featured strong colours. It is a type decorated with many figures, many butterflies, flowers and birds or a medallion pattern. The term "Mandarin is now used as a trade term (see. Gulland, Chinese Porcelain, p. 208, Cosmo Monkhouse, Chinese Porcelain, p. 160 and Gotheborg).
Mandarin fans consist of sticks, lacquered in black, gold and some red, carved ivory or sandalwood or even enamelled silver filigree, and a polychrome leaf painted with strong colours and decorated with Chinese figures in a landscape, edifices, folkloristic, taoist and buddhist symbols, mythical animals, symbols, flowers, seldom with landscape or city views.
Mandarin fans do not only come as folding fans. There are also Mandarin handscreens, see below:
Not only porcelain and ceramics were goods desired by Europeans (see my blog entry "Porcelain influence and Fans", 3rd Octber 2009), Chinese fans were already exported to Europe in the 17th century. Of these early examples however very few have survived. This fan below is one of the earliest examples of Chinese export fans which I have in my collection:
Especially the recto (below right) of the leaf has a distinctly Chinese character whereas the verso (above) is either painted by a European who imitates the Chinese style extremely well or by a Chinese who worked in Europe and adapted his style a little to the European way of painting. The sticks however are definitely Chinese late 17th century.
It seems fair to say that the so-called Mandarin fan, 100-persons-fan or applied-figure fan was a combination of styles used in earlier types of export fans, Chinese porcelain as well as deriving from Chinese painting motifs.
Thomas De Leo in his comprehensive and insightful article "The Mandarin Pattern", FCI Bulletin No. 89, shows (image 5) and describes a Chinese late 18th century fan leaf with court ladies following various pursuits scattered all over the place. The scene is "Spring morning in the Han palace", a popular much-copied scene in late Ming and early Quing period. This motif bears striking resemblance to the Mandarin fan decoration.
There were also the Chinese export ivory brise fans carved with a multitude of various designs, the decoration evolving from the earliest pierced examples of the Kangxi period (1662-1722) with famille verte porcelain style lacquer decor to rather more abstract geometrical and flower carved designs in the mid-18th century to the carved ribbed ground pattern with - earlier -flowers, animals and architectural elements to - from the early 19th century onwards - the probably best known type with Chinese figures, gardens and pavillions (whereas the carving became cruder towards the end of the 19th century).
In my opinion it is the latter type of decoration that is reflected in the figurative decoration of the Mandarin fan.
Ivory material in the Ming and Quing dynaties was imported to China from Southeast Asia and Africa.A center for ivory produce was Canton, where the craftsmen had easier access to the material since, as a trading center, imported goods were readily and quickly available in Canton.
Ivory craftsmen who had been trained at the court were sent to work in Canton for this particular reason. Ivory there was worked not only for the domestic market but also for export.
Ivory sticks on Mandarin fans are in a way not more than smaller ivory brise fans with longer guardsticks, see the rare telescopic Mandarin fan below:
Not only the ivory brise type fans are cited in the designs of the Mandarin fan but also the lacquer brise fan, see below.
This fan shows the trailing-wine-leaf-design of the earliest kind of these fans - this one will be dated between 1780-1820 - on the guards and lower part of the sticks. Trailing vine-leaves are a typical Chinese border pattern motif. For a similar, more elaborate example of the trailing wine-leaf decoration see the gold and black lacquer tea caddy, 1790-1820, cat.no. 71 in "Chinese Export Art and Design", V&A, 1987.
This example of a lacquer brise fan boasts lacquer of exeptionally fine quality. At some point I believed this fan to be actually a Japanese copy of the Chinese lacquer brise, as the quality of the lacquer painting is so fine and so good as I had never seen before in a Chinese lacquer brise fan.
The somewhat more common type of Chinese lacquer brise fans is decorated in the Cantonese lacquer style, with a densely filled surface presenting a figurative scene in the middle and highly ornamental edging. Below are superb examples from David Ranftl`s collection:
But, again, one must not underrate the influence of Chinese porcelain and particularly Chinese export porcelain and pottery decor on the general decor of Chinese export wares for the West. Porcelain decor in ancient China ranged from blue-white, famille verte and noire, famille jaune to famille rose (the latter mainly consisting of pink enamel, made with colloidal gold, first used by the Chinese in late Kangxi period, in the beginning of the 18th century) and so-called rose medallion patterns predominantly used in the 19th century on export ware.
The Mandarin motif of Chinese figures in a landscape probably also derives from the Chinese famille rose porcelain decor that was used since the early 18th century.
Famille rose uses an enamel technique that is said to derive from European Limoges enamel. Apparently the enamelling technique used for famille rose was brought to China by Europeans around 1700. Also the pastel colouring of famille rose was inspired by the 18th century European taste in powdery and glowing colours. This are the reasons why famille rose used to be referred to by the Chinese as "fencai", foreign colour.
Very often Chinese famille rose vases, plates and other wares were decorated with whimsical and beautifully coloured scenes of Chinese figures in gardens and pavillions. This must have been extremely interesting to Europeans as they could inspect the Chinese costumes, pastimes, plants and various Chinese items.
As I understand it "famille rose" porcelain is also known as the origin of the "Mandarin porcelain" decor which evolved in the Keen Lung period (1736-1795). Particularly in the 19th century the more boldly coloured Mandarin decor of porcelain and ceramics emphasized in showing Chinese figures in various situations, landscapes and interiors and was a favourite with the Europeans.
These 18th century European chinoiserie fan leaves on the left and right below were most certainly inspired by the earlier famille rose porcelain objects and the favourite 18th century pastel colouring.
They have typical famille rose colours and motifs.
During the mid-19th century figures in gardens were introduced in the decoration of the lacquer brise type fan. The high quality Mandarin fans almost look as if the leaf is mounted onto an elaborate lacquer brise fan! See a high quality example below:
The Mandarin fan as an export article was mentioned in Europe as early as 1789 (see Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, 1987, S. 250). It was during the mid-19th century that Europe was fairly flooded with export Mandarin fans. They were exported to Europe until the late 19th century, albeit deteriorating in quality.
The shortage in Mandarin fan exports for a short period during the mid-19th century and by the end of the 19th century led to mediocre European imitations, see the unmounted, printed mid 19th century Spanish fan leaf below:
Part 2 of this post about Mandarin fans with a description of the decoration of the Mandarin fan will be posted soon.
If you have any questions to ask, corrections or comments to make please do so. You can also send me and email to catsandfans@yahoo.de. I would be delighted to hear from you!
More sources: "Fächer - Spiegelbilder ihrer Zeit", Marie-Luise und Günter Barisch; "Ostwind - Westwind", Erichsen und Kleidt, Katalog zur Ausstellung in Schloss Nymphenburg, München, 2008; "Chinese Export Art and Design", V&A, 1987; "Porcelain for Palaces - The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750", Ayers, Impey and Mallet, 1990, Oriental Ceramical Society; "The Mandarin Pattern", Tom Deleo, in FCI Bulletin, No. 89, Winter 2009.
