Rare Books
Fan [realia] : [Illustration of manuscript poems on fan]
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Fan with illustration of four Lewes children [realia]
Visual Materials
A folding fan made of fabric and mounted on wooden sticks. Fan includes hand-painted details illustrating a scene of four children walking hand-in-hand. The fan is layered with black fabric on both recto and verso; the recto's top layer of black fabric was cut out into outlines of the children's profiles, revealing a silk layer of fabric underneath that was then hand-painted with varying colors and details. The first child is shown in profile, holding a reticule in hand while leading the other three children who follow. Provenance from the donor suggests that the children depicted are George Henry Lewes's children with his wife Agnes Jervis; based on the family history, however, the children depicted are likely that of Agnes Jervis's with later-partner Thornton Leigh Hunt, as George Henry Lewes did not have any daughters. The approximate date of the item is based on the birth dates of the children.
priPEF 109