Museum’s legendary antique accessories are simply fantastic

The magnificent fan is among more than 400 cared for at Leeds Discovery Centre, where the precious collection is being carefully catalogued and conserved by curators.

Mostly dating from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, many of the fans’ elaborate designs portray scenes of love taken from Greek or Roman mythology, colourful birds or Far Eastern imagery and were once a must-have accompaniment to any lady’s outfit in high society.

Natalie Raw, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of costume, said: “Although today we usually think of fans just being used to help us cool down in the hot weather, in the 18^th century no lady’s dress would be complete without one.

“As well as being a beautiful fashion accessory, they were also associated with the idea of flirtation and the imagery painted on them would often signify themes of love and courtship.

“At dances and social gatherings, a lady might use subtle gestures with their fans, such as a flutter or a glance over the top, to attract attention or express she was interested in someone. 

“These behaviours led to the popular belief that fans could be used as part of a secret code of communication between men and women.

“Today, they still look just as stunning and also give us a fascinating insight into how the use of elaborate and beautiful accessories has evolved over the centuries and what this tells us about the relationship between fashion and society.”

Many of the fans in the Leeds collection were gathered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when acquiring antique fans became a popular hobby for wealthy ladies such as Lady Gascoigne of Lotherton and Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, a glamorous socialite who married into the wealthy Brotherton family of West Yorkshire.

Although not much is known about their original makers and designers, some information does survive in the museum records.

Two fans in the collection are inscribed with the name of Sarah Ashton, a female printer who worked in Covent Garden, London, in the late 1700s.

Unusually, one is an education fan decorated with methods of classifying plants and botanical drawings, with another printed with a variety of riddles and known to have belonged to Isabel Kennedy of Leeds.

By the Georgian period of the early 19^th century, a simpler style of dress had become more fashionable, with smaller, less ostentatious fans popular.

The fans collection can be seen at Leeds Discovery Centre as part of regular store tours, with several examples also currently on display at Lotherton as part of the Botanically Beautiful exhibition.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for economy, said: “The many stunning examples of fashion and costume in the Leeds collection really do bring home the creativity and imagination of designers through the ages and how they captured the themes and trends of their individual eras.

“Our whole collection is an incredible archive of millions of years of history and it’s wonderful that the people of Leeds are able to visit and be inspired by it.”

Leeds Discovery Centre is open to the public for pre-booked tours and is a Give What You Can museum, where visitors are invited to donate to support the museum if they are able.

Donations can be made when booking a tour online, and with cash and coins in a donation box in reception. 

For more details please visit: Visit Leeds Discovery Centre | Leeds Museums and Galleries | Days out and exhibitions

ENDS