Hand-Held Delight: The Eighteenth-Century Fan

June 14–September 24, 2000

This exhibition highlights the beauty and delicate craftsmanship of selected eighteenth-century European fans from the Museum's permanent collection. Period engravings from the Encylopédie of Diderot and provide a step-by-step explanation of how they were created. Hand-painted on vellum with finely carved ivory or mother-of-pearl sticks, these fans are exquisite examples of the merging of fashion with the decorative arts. This exhibition is curated by Tim Sullivan '00 and the Boston College Lambda Psi Chapter of Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honor Society.