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Fan with Lady with Fan Cover

Fan with Lady with Fan needle case
Needle Case


Patent

Design Details

Needle Case Type:

Figural (patent doesn’t specify cover design)

Patent/Registered to:

Henry Milward & Sons – Redditch (provisional registered to Theodore Givry, Paris)

Patent/Design Representation #:

Mechanical Patent: #8 (Provisional: #1808 registered December 19, 1867)

Patent/Design Registration Date:

January 1, 1868

Location of Patent/Design Registration:

Mechanical Patent - British Library - Business and Intellectual Property Centre - London
Provisional - The National Archives (TNA) - Kew, UK

Reference #:

TNA Representation - BT 46/6/1808
TNA Register - BT 48/2

Dimensions:

3.4 x 0.8 x 7.5

Material:

Brass

Name Variations:

H. Milward & Sons - Redditch

Other Variations:

a) Fan with Bee and Dog Head Cover
b) Fan with Cupid Cover (front view)
c) Fan with Cupid Cover (side view)
d) Fan with Rose Cover
e) Fan with Swan Cover

Facts

The fan is a device used to create a current of air.  Prior to electricity and air conditioning, fans were used to keep people cool.  Highly decorated hand fans, like the one shown below, were commonplace in the Victorian Era. They were usually semi-circular in shape and consisted of a thin material such as paper or feathers mounted on slats that could be closed when not in use.  Click on the fan below to see an larger version of it.

Cupid facts

History

Although hand fans have been around since ancient times, their use died out in Europe during the Middle Ages only to reappear again in the 13th and 14th centuries.  Fancy fans were primary found among the aristocracy during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Mass production techniques and the rise of the middle class lead to the hand fan becoming a fashion assessor during the Victorian Period where it indicated the social status of the lady who carried it.  Also at that time elaborate hand fans were frequently found on chromolithography cards like the one below.

Fan history

Miscellaneous

Ladies with fans are often depicted in paintings.  The sticks on the fan in the painting below appear to be made of ivory or mother of pearl while the leaves contain an elegantly painted scene.  Fans were also used to communicate with members of the opposite sex in times of restricted social etiquette such as the Victorian Era.  For example placing the fan handle to the lips meant “kiss me” whereas twirling the fan in the right hand meant “I love another”.

Fan misc