Sigurai - Fans

The fan has played an important part in Chinese and Japanese life. Fans were carried by men as well as women, and there were many classes of fans, each reserved for some special purpose. With so much significance attached to the fan in the Far East, a great deal of attention was paid to its decoration, and the exquisite taste displayed in the embellishment of high-quality Chinese and Japanese fans has never really been equaled. In Europe the painting of fan leaves was, until the 19th century, the work of artisans—clever decorators at best. In China, on the other hand, many of the great painters devoted their talents to the decoration of fans, and the resulting works of art were not always mounted for actual use.