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Florentine fan, 1620s. I want it. Actually, I want to make something to wear that looks like it. To do.
This brisé fan is the earliest fan in the V&A’s collection. A brisé fan has sticks but no fan leaf. This one is has seven sticks, each shaped to represent a curled ostrich feather and attached with a green silk ribbon. Each stick is covered with green silk and decorated with tiny pieces of straw arranged in a pattern of birds and flowers. The high quality of the straw-work suggests the fan might have been made in Florence. The city was one of the centres for this craft in the early 17th century.
