Victorian Taxidermy - A Lady’s Humming Bird and Feather Fan in a Museum Quality Mahogany Case

19th century

Sold by Kendall House Antiques Ltd.

Description

A mid to late 19th Century feather fan, embellished with a stuffed humming bird among ostrich plumes, down, feather flowers and buds, set to a turned bone handle and mounted in its original mahogany case, glazed on all sides.

Case measures 57cm High x 33cm Wide x 27cm Depth.

Hummingbirds were often used to ornament feathered hand-held fans, the better examples often with compositions of feathered flowers as with this example. This type of skilled work had existed in Brazil since the mid-18th century and had become internationally known through the agency of travellers and naturalists interested in natural history products. The precursors of the art of feathered flowers were the nuns Josefa Maria and Maria da Trindade, Ursuline sisters within the convent ‘Our Lady of the Soledade’ founded in 1739 in Salvador, Bahia.

In Rio de Janeiro, this use of feathers was linked to fashions coming from Paris in the ads published in magazines, while in France it was initially attributed to the South American natives. Later, the combination of feathered flowers with colourful hummingbirds and iridescent insects became known in Europe as Brazilian style, perceived as a fusion of tropical nature with French taste.

In the Victorian era, these were considered "flamboyant" and fashionable accessories, popularized in 1871 by the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) when she was photographed at a society ball holding a similar fan.

While intended as hand-held fans for formal events like balls, they were occasionally preserved and displayed as ornamental objects within glass domes, to protect their delicate structure.

Similar fans (albeit none in a glazed display case) can be found:

The Fan Museum at Greenwich London has a hummingbird fan complete in its original box.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a hummingbird and feather fan from the late 1880s.

The Maria Cristina Volpi collection has a hummingbird and feather fan, circa 1872-1877, Brazilian work, made by Domingos L. da Cunha.

Physical Dimensions

Height

57cm (22.44")

Width

33cm (12.99")

Depth

27cm (10.63")

Declaration

Kendall House Antiques Ltd. has dated this piece to the 1880s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA1211216

Dealers Internal Reference

26785

Dealers Notes

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Description

fig 1. Victorian Taxidermy - A lady’s humming bird and feather fan in a museum quality mahogany case — fig 1. Victorian Taxidermy - A Lady’s Humming Bird and Feather Fan in a Museum Quality Mahogany Case

Case measures 57cm High x 33cm Wide x 27cm Depth.

“

Hummingbirds were often used to ornament feathered hand-held fans, the better examples often with compositions of feathered flowers as with this example.

Kendall House Antiques Ltd.

This type of skilled work had existed in Brazil since the mid-18th century and had become internationally known through the agency of travellers and naturalists interested in natural history products. The precursors of the art of feathered flowers were the nuns Josefa Maria and Maria da Trindade, Ursuline sisters within the convent ‘Our Lady of the Soledade’ founded in 1739 in Salvador, Bahia.

fig 2. Victorian Taxidermy - A lady’s humming bird and feather fan in a museum quality mahogany case — fig 2. Victorian Taxidermy - A Lady’s Humming Bird and Feather Fan in a Museum Quality Mahogany Case

In Rio de Janeiro, this use of feathers was linked to fashions coming from Paris in the ads published in magazines, while in France it was initially attributed to the South American natives. Later, the combination of feathered flowers with colourful hummingbirds and iridescent insects became known in Europe as Brazilian style, perceived as a fusion of tropical nature with French taste.

fig 3. Victorian Taxidermy - A lady’s humming bird and feather fan in a museum quality mahogany case — fig 3. Victorian Taxidermy - A Lady’s Humming Bird and Feather Fan in a Museum Quality Mahogany Case

In the Victorian era, these were considered "flamboyant" and fashionable accessories, popularized in 1871 by the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) when she was photographed at a society ball holding a similar fan.

fig 4. Victorian Taxidermy - A lady’s humming bird and feather fan in a museum quality mahogany case — fig 4. Victorian Taxidermy - A Lady’s Humming Bird and Feather Fan in a Museum Quality Mahogany Case

While intended as hand-held fans for formal events like balls, they were occasionally preserved and displayed as ornamental objects within glass domes, to protect their delicate structure.

Similar fans (albeit none in a glazed display case) can be found: