Perhaps the most contested aspect of fan history pertains to the so-called language of fans. Contrary to popular belief, there is little evidence to support the existence of a universally understood code based upon how a fan was opened, closed, held, or pointed, Certainly, folding fans could be used to theatrical effect and, as an Eighteenth-century commentator once remarked: Women are armed with fans as men are with swords, and sometimes do more execution with them.’ Published in 1797, The Ladies’ Conversation Fan proposed a complex system of non-verbal communication which, in theory, enabled secret dialogue between two or more fan bearers. The Language of Fans was further reinforced in the nineteenth century when celebrated fan maker Duvelleroy distributed a pamphlet containing instructions for fan-talk. A fan twirled in the right hand, for example, translated as ‘I love another.’ Other clothing-related codes emerged at a similar time including the language of the parasol and gloves, neither of which were followed by any great number of people or with any seriousness.
• To learn more about the development of folding fans in the West, press A. • To hear the Museum’s Curator discuss the so-called language of folding fans, press B.