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Fan Tales
Old-fashioned fans are today mostly appreciated for the craftsmanship and delicacy with which they were produced. But in former times they had their own special function in the hands of women of certain social ranks. Not just useful articles, they were powerful transmitters of messages. With deft movements of their fans corresponding to a unique code, women were able to signal their thoughts and their intentions to their admirers without using a single word. With the aid of comprehensive illustration, Wayne Roberts endeavours anew to decipher the language of the fan, a mode of communication that has unfortunately disappeared.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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May 1, 2016
The physical quality of the book is high and there are a lot of photos of fans, and examples of fans in art and photographs and the description of the fans shown was detailed if a bit dry and did not always seem to match up to the image shown. My only complaint with this book is that the text mentions fans from different cultures and time periods, but the only examples shown seem to be from Europe and America from the 1700's on. I would have liked to see images of other fans and other cultures. That said, the images shown were beautiful.
Displaying 1 of 1 review