Fan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The imagery is very expressive of the romantic fantasy and erotic undertones that is inherent in fan leaves of the Victorian era. On the obverse are groups of women in Western fashion, in well to do and structured surroundings, exchanging love messages from suitors presumably far away. On the reverse is a romanticized Indian or European maiden wearing filmy garments with an American Indian in unchaperoned surroundings, the setting and the tepees in the background representing a much simpler and less restrictive life; fans were used for flirting and it seems that the scene on the reverse would be a possible message to a suitor

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art