L’indispensable monture de l’éventail, véritable attribut social ? La richesse des montures de la collection Preciosa (Musée Art & Histoire, Bruxelles)

This article focuses on an often neglected in the historiography and yet essential component of the fan: its frame. By first presenting the rich industrial and economic context of the eighteenth century, we focus on the phenomenon of semi-luxury, quite significant of this period which sees the rise to power of the bourgeoisie, which will have an important impact on the manufacture of fans. After a brief description of the different techniques used to make frames at that time, we go through the many materials used (mother-of-pearl, ivory, bone and wood) and their specificities and this, through the meticulous description of fan frames from the Preciosa collection of the Musée Art & Histoire of Brussels. We thus focus on the materials used but also on their engraved motifs, their ornaments and various additions which contribute to make them unique. Finally, we also present a statistical analysis on the relationships between the iconography represented on the sheets and the materials used to shape the frames. At the end of our investigation, we show that not only could the fan not exist without its mount, but also that leaf and frame are inseparable and enrich each other to take part in the social interactions of the time.