Craft and Craftmen

The ‘Amphitrite’ Fan: A Masterpiece in the FIDM Museum Collection

Today's post is an in-depth look at a very special new acquisition, written by French scholar Georgina Letourmy-Bordier.

Most antique fans still in existence today have lost their history. Their origins, their context, and the various stages of their making escape us. There is one principle reason for this. Since their introduction into Europe in the 16th century, fans have generally been made anonymously – there are only rare exceptions to this.  There are no signatures on the leaves or on the montures.  It wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that painters began to sign their work. When the sticks are signed, which is very rare, it is a sign that the work is of exceptional quality.

Translated from French by Mary Kitson, Secretary of the Fan Circle International

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The ‘Amphitrite’ Fan: A Masterpiece in the FIDM Museum Collection

Most antique fans still in existence today have lost their history. Their origins, their context, and the various stages of their making escape us. There is one principle reason for this. Since their introduction into Europe in the 16th century, fans have generally been made anonymously – there are only rare exceptions to this.  There are no signatures on the leaves or on the montures.  It wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that painters began to sign their work. When the sticks are signed, which is very rare, it is a sign that the work is of exceptional quality.

Richard SENNETT (2009), Zanaatkâr (Çev. Melih Pakdemir) (İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları, 395 s.).
Zanaatkârlık, Endüstri Devrimi ile tahtından edilmiş bir üretim biçimi gibi ya da geçmişe ait maddi kültürü üreten eski bir yaşam tarzı olarak görülebilir. Yerini alan makineli üretim her ne kadar ihtiyaç duyulan ürünlerin çok daha hızlı ve ucuz imal edilmesini sağlamışsa da zanaatkârlığa olan ilgiyi ve ihtiyacı tümüyle ortadan kaldıramamıştır. Antropologların maddi kültür üretimi ile ilişkilendirdiği, yok olmaya yüz tutmuş bir yaşam tarzı olarak değerlendirebileceği bu üretim tarzının milyonlarca yıllık geçmişi, günümüzün toplumsal yaşamında, bireyin toplum ve doğa ile kurduğu ilişkide hala etkili olduğu görülmektedir.

Cette thèse est la première thèse consacrée à l'éventail en France.

Elle porte sur l’étude du décor de la feuille d’éventail produite dans les ateliers parisiens depuis la fin du XVIIe siècle jusqu’au début de la Révolution.

La première partie a pour ambition de présenter succinctement le contexte artisanal en s’intéressant d’une part à la corporation et d’autre part aux conditions de fabrication de l’objet. La place des éventaillistes parmi les artisans parisiens du luxe est abordée ainsi que la valeur de ce commerce tant du point de vue du volume que de la reconnaissance de ce savoir-faire parmi les autres productions européennes.
Dans un second temps, la présentation de l’iconographie de la feuille permet de souligner la grande variété des thèmes, leur fréquence et leur variation sur la période. En complément de décors inspirés par l’histoire antique et la mythologie, d’autres sujets, marqués par une forte corrélation avec l’actualité et la vie politique du royaume, sont identifiés. Les thèmes liés au divertissement, la pastorale, les jeux, la musique ou encore le théâtre constituent un dernier pôle très représentatif.

Cette approche conduit à s’interroger sur les influences subies par les peintres ou les graveurs et à comprendre les caractères et les spécificités des décors. Des parallèles sont effectués afin de les replacer dans le contexte artistique par des comparaisons avec la gravure, la peinture, les arts décoratifs et la littérature de colportage notamment. Il apparaît que l’ambition décorative, qui se manifeste par la place de l‘anecdote et le goût du pittoresque, n’amoindrit pas la valeur didactique de l’objet comme le démontre l’importance accordée aux textes et aux chansons notamment.
La dernière partie ouvre l’étude sur une réflexion autour de l’éventail et de son appréciation par les contemporains. L’enthousiasme exprimé par les femmes s’oppose à la virulence des écrits de certains critiques et de peintres. Cette confrontation permet de mettre en exergue la reconnaissance de l’objet comme expression de la société féminine mais aussi comme reflet de l’expansion des arts décoratifs au XVIIIe siècle.

Mots clés : éventail, mode, accessoire de mode, artisanat du luxe.

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This thesis is the first thesis about antique fans in France.
This thesis concerned with the decoration of fan leaves produced in Parisian workshops between the end of the XVIIth century and the beginning of the French Revolution.
The first part attempts to present succinctly the conditions in which fan leaves were manufactured, namely the place of fan-makers among Parisian artisans of luxury goods and the value of this business compared to that of other European producers.
Following in the second section is the presentation of the iconography of the fan leaf, stressing the wide variety of themes, their frequency and variation in this period. Apart from subjects from ancient history and mythology, a strong correlation between everyday events and the political life of the kingdom emerges. Entertainments, country pursuits, games, music and theatre are also topics widely represented.
This approach leads to a discussion on the conditions imposed on the painters and engravers and an examination of the characteristics and details of the chosen decorations. Parallels are drawn so that the fan leaves can be given an artistic context alongside engraving, painting, the decorative arts and relevant literature. As demonstrated in texts and, particularly, in songs, it seems that anecdotal decoration and the taste for the picturesque does not diminish the didactic value of the object.
Finally, the concluding part of the thesis reflects on the fan leaf as it was considered by contemporary writers. Feminine enthusiasm against the attacks of certain male writers reveals that the value of the object was principally an expression of female society but also that it was an object with a significant place in the expansion of the decorative arts in the XVIIIth century.

Key words : fan, fashion, fashion accessory, luxury goods.

Bien avant l’invention du cinéma, les hommes ont cherché à animer images ou objets afin de créer un mouvement ou de simuler une animation. Il n’est qu’à observer des pièces d’une exceptionnelle ingéniosité, et d’un raffinement extrême, comme les horloges-automates et certains surtouts de tables, chefs d’œuvre des orfèvres allemands du XVIe siècle, pour en être convaincu. L’une des plus spectaculaires et emblématiques inventions est certainement la lanterne magique. La projection d’images et leur changement offrent au spectateur une immersion visuelle et un voyage imaginaire sans précédent.

L’enthousiasme suscité par ces images mouvantes ne pouvait que conduire les artisans à tenter d’offrir des divertissements semblables. Plus ou moins modestes, les jeux visuels bénéficient ainsi de multiples déclinaisons, dans leur conception comme dans leur public.

Dès le premier regard cependant, il est indéniable que les objets offrent plus de potentielles animations que ne laissent à priori entrevoir les images sur papier. L’absence de volumes, notamment, paraît interdire toute velléité d’ajout de mécanismes destinés à une mise en mouvement. Mais ces apparentes difficultés ont été vaillamment surmontées par les artisans, graveurs, papetiers et marchands d’estampes au XVIIIe siècle, comme l’attestent les rares témoignages de cette production parvenue jusqu’à nous.
Bien que fragiles, et intrinsèquement éphémères, ces inventions de papier ont bien souvent été réalisées grâce à des techniques modestes : pliage, collage, ou montage simple.
Si l’ambition commune de toutes ces réalisations est à la fois divertissante et décorative, leur observation met en évidence plusieurs catégories d’animation. Le premier ensemble est celui des images dont le jeu est fondé sur la construction de la composition ; un second ensemble réunit les images transformées par des mécanismes complexes et internes. Le dernier ensemble met en exergue les images dotées de « systèmes » permettant la mise en mouvement de l’image.

Part 1 - extract

During the 14th century, Sienese butchers set in motion three revolts against the city government. The most famous occurred against the Nine in 1318, expression of a hidden political dissent that they had to handle during seventy years. The city’s guilds were not formally excluded from the governmet, but in deeds they had no acces to it. Neither the strong one of butchers-animal dealers. However, since they always acted jointly with judges, notaries et powerful magnates, butchers’ rebellions cannot be considered just as artisans’ or workers’ revolts. Sienese butchers not only tried to overthrow the government of Nine (1287-1355), composed by middle merchant class, but also the following one of Twelve (1355-1368) in which the butchers’ guild led one of the twelve artisans’ parties at the government. The aim of this article is to advance some preliminary hypothesis on the so-called 1318 rebellion, based on a current research on Sienese butchers and their conspiracies throughout the 14th century.

Nel corso del XIV secolo, i macellai senesi parteciparono in prima linea ad almeno tre rivolte urbane. Sebbene la più nota sia la rivolta del 1318, essa non rappresenta che il momento di massima visibilità di un’opposizione politica di lunga durata contro il governo dei Nove (1287-1355). Le Arti cittadine, sia pur non formalmente escluse, non avevano nei fatti accesso alla massima magistratura. Mercanti di media condizione, espressione politica delle Arti della Lana e della Mercanzia, i Nove repressero le aspirazioni politiche anche di un gruppo semi-mercantile come quello dei macellai e dei mercanti di bestiame. Ciononostante, le rivolte dei carnaioli – come vengono comunemente detti nelle fonti gli addetti alla macellazione e vendita delle carni – non possono essere considerate rivolte artigiane tout court e le lunghe alleanze con guidici, notai e magnati avvertono della natura complessa dell’opposizione politica al governo. A prima vista, quel che più sorprende è che i carnaioli organizzarono rivolte sia contro il governo dei Nove che contro quello successivo dei Dodici (1355-1368), nel quale però essi avevano ormai piena rappresentazione politica: i carnifices et
mercatores bestiarum erano infatti alla guida di uno dei dodici capita artigiani e mercantili che esprimevano di volta in volta il gruppo dirigente. Questo articolo propone alcune ipotesi preliminari intorno alla cosiddetta ‘rivolta’ del 1318. Al tempo stesso, costituisce il punto di partenza di una ricerca in corso sui macellai senesi e le cospirazioni politiche che li videro coinvolti nel corso del XIV secolo.

Bibliographical reference
Georgina Letourmy-Bordier, « Tabletiers-éventaillistes dans la région de Méru au xixe siècle », Artefact, 4 | 2016, 325-335.

Electronic reference
Georgina Letourmy-Bordier, « Tabletiers-éventaillistes dans la région de Méru au xixe siècle », Artefact [Online], 4 | 2016, Online since 07 July 2017, connection on 01 October 2018. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/artefact/519

Le Tour de France, au sens de la pratique d’une itinérance organisée durant laquelle est assurée la formation des jeunes ouvriers, est aujourd’hui à ce point associé au compagnonnage que l’on a peine à penser des bien nommés « compagnons du Tour de France » sans ce voyage de formation. Pourtant, cet usage n’est systématisé qu’assez tardivement pour remplir le rôle qui est le sien aujourd’hui. Par ailleurs, il n’appartient pas en propre aux compagnons. Rendre compte de ce décrochage entre compagnonnage et Tour de France permettra de mieux situer la place que cette pratique occupe au sein de la formule compagnonnique contemporaine.

English

Contemporary artworks are not the product of isolated authors, "artists", who possess an exceptional gift, says sociologist Howard Becker. This myth of the artist as the unique creator of the artwork persists in the collective imagination and is particularly well maintained in contemporary Indian art world. However, since the mid-2000s, contemporary creation in
India has become a collective effort in which artists are collaborating with an increasing number of skilled workers to produce their works, especially artisans. This practice recalls forms of traditional organization of Indian artistic creation, the karkhanas, which rely on a collaborative process with specialized craftsmen. What has been the influence of the art market’s growth on this trend and what is the importance of the relationship artist-artisans in contemporary Indian art today? At the crossroads of geography, sociology and art history, this article is based on field research and semi-directed interviews carried out in India mainly between 2012 and 2016.

Français :

L’œuvre d’art ne représente pas la production d’auteurs isolés, d’« artistes » qui possèdent un don exceptionnel, déclare le sociologue Howard Becker. Ce mythe de l’artiste comme unique créateur de l’œuvre persiste dans l’imaginaire collectif et il est particulièrement bien entretenu dans la création contemporaine indienne. Pourtant, depuis le milieu des années 2000, celle-ci est devenue un effort collectif : les artistes font appel à un nombre croissant de travailleurs spécialisés pour la production de leurs œuvres et plus particulièrement à des artisans. Cette pratique renoue avec des formes d’organisation traditionnelles de la création artistique indienne, les karkhanas, qui s’appuient sur un processus collaboratif avec des artisans spécialisés. Quelle a été l’influence de l’essor du marché de l’art sur l’expansion de cette tendance et quelle est l’importance de la relation artiste-artisans dans l’art contemporain indien aujourd’hui ? A la croisée de la géographie, la sociologie et l’histoire de l’art, cet article s’appuie sur des recherches de terrain et des entretiens semi-dirigés effectués en Inde principalement entre 2012 et 2016

The author takes as her starting point the assumption that institutional theatre in Poland since 1989 has been undergoing a secret, non-systemic transformation from the Fordian to the post-Fordian model (the latter being peculiar to late capitalism). The author argues that, although little has been offered by way of substantial reflection on the subject, the changes in question contribute to the exploitation of the lowest-earning staff, leading towards the gradual extinction of craft in theatre. The article aims to identify systemic reasons for existing dysfunctions, such as inadequate self-knowledge within the organization, institutional disintegration and structural opportunism. The findings presented here are based on qualitative research undertaken by the author: interviews with more than eighty craftspeople, technicians and stagehands, both employed and retired.