Folding fan with ‘The Hongs in Canton’

This fan has elaborately carved French-style bones. The body of the fan depicts a scene of Canton Hongs, and illustrates the Chinese craftsmen's ability to imitate foreign styles to suit a customer's taste. The painted scene shows the earliest factories including those of the Danish, French, Swedish, British and Dutch. The bones are decorated with European musicians playing wind instruments, as well as putti, two birds, and gold coins in a Rococo style. The reverse features elaborately painted Chinese-style flowers.

This fan is dated by architectural details of the foreign factories. The sticks are elegantly fretted with a heart and two octagons. The reverse is sparsely decorated with flowers.