Fan

The French firm of Alexandre made this superb brisé fan for the 1867 Paris Universal Exhibition. The Empress Eugénie of France, the Queen of Spain and the Russian Empress all commissioned fans from the company.

This fan is plain on one side, with elaborate scenes of a medieval jousting tournament on the other. The painter was Edouard Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who often worked for fan makers. He was famous for his finely painted miniaturist compositions, which generally represented romanticised scenes from the medieval or Renaissance period.