Fan Friday: Regency Horn Fan



1812 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 8 - December Issue

Regency is a term often loosely used to refer to the years between the end of the 18th century and the Victorian era.  In costuming it often more specifically encompasses "Empire style" (referring to Napoleon's 1804–1814/1815 empire, and often also to his 1800–1804 "consulate") or "Regency" (most precisely referring to the 1811–1820 period of George IV's formal regency.


The dress silhouette of Western female dress in this era is very distict.  Closely fitted in the bust and falling fairly straight underneath.



1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - December Issue

1814 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 12 - August Issue

Fans in this era are small but fairly diverse.  There are still folding fans, but a new popular fan style is the brise fan.  Brise fans have no leaf and all the sticks are generally the same length.  Regency Era brise fans came in ivory, bone, wood and horn.  They are generally much smaller than the ones from even a decade before, in the 1790s, and are usually about 6-10 inches in length.  From looking at fashion plates, fans seem to be an evening accessory that coordinate with a ball gown.


1828 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 11 - June Issue

This brise fan from my collection is made of horn and decorated with inlaid silver spangles.  Horn can be moulded when heat and pressure are applied.

 

Regency/Empire era horn hand fan, circa 1800-1820

1807 Madame Duvaucey by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (Musée Condé, Chantilly)

This style was probably popular from around 1800-1820.  This painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres shows a horn fan of similar style in a portrait from 1809.