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Feathers from
Lamplight Feather Peacock Feathers Ostrich Feathers Pheasant Feathers Feather Boas Feather Fans Feather Birds Hat Plumes Feather Trim Rooster Hackle Coque (rooster tail) By Mail: Lamplight Feather P.O. Box 867 Fort Jones CA 96032 Call us toll free (800) 806-5149 email us: lamplightfeather@tonyhill.net Fax us : (530) 468-4101                 
   
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Four major types of fan include feather fan, palm, leaf fan, folding fan and silk fan.
As its name suggests, feather fans are made of feathers. Scholars believe it to be the oldest type of Chinese fan. The Chinese character includes the character which means "feather" as part of the composition. The history of feather fan dates back over 3,000 years. Feather from eagles, magpies, cranes, kingfishers and peacocks have all served as feather fan material. Up to the end of Han Dynasty about 1,800 years ago, holding a feather fan was fashionable amongst the literati and officials. The folding fans are the most popular in China even today. They came into use during the Song Dynasty about 700 years ago. The folding fans originally used by emperors and their ministers which was often carved with figures of birds, flowers, landscapes and even poems. These fans often came with a matching jade pendant. When the ministers gathered, they would proudly display their folded fans. Fans are costume accessories from the repertoire of a different, more gracious way of living, and are hence evocative of past elegance, embodying a lost language of both ceremony and coquetry. Their practical purpose in English tradition since at least the 17th century has certainly been to regulate ambient air temperature, by providing a means of self-cooling, but this facility was soon found useful to hide, or temper blushes. In addition, fans could shield the eyes from the glare of the sun and prevent an unfashionable tanning of the skin outdoors, or prevent the ruddy complexion arising from too vigorous a fire indoors, hence the development of the hand-held fire screen. 18th century Georgian fans often represent the most exquisite objets d'art which were the perfect gift for a lady, in an era which cultivated good taste, and connoisseurship of the hand-crafted object. Fans also had a particular place in the traditions of masquerade developed across Europe in that century, masking the faces of their owners, as part of an elaborate ritual of flirtation. Lamplight Feather offers a wide variety of types and styles of feather fans. Marabou folding fans are inexpensive and available in a wide variety of colors. For our Red Hat Society members, Lamplight features these fans in red, purple, candy pink and an unusual combination of red and purple. Ostrich fans are constructed of either standard ostrich feathers or large ostrich wing plumes. The rigid style is the most affordable. Large (but expensive) folding ostrich feather fans are available with either bamboo staves or acrylic staves. These are limited in availablility and custom colors other that red, white and black must be custom ordered. Please see our fan catalog pages to view these items. Thank you, Tony Hill |
