Casgliadau Arlein

Fan, oriental, with central carved ivory stick supporting a stiff, flat, approximately circular screen. The core of the screen is made of a stiff layer of white card. One face of the fan is made of tabby woven white silk (?) ground which is painted with oriental figures. Hands and feet are made from applied disks of white shiny material (possibly polished seashell?) and garments are made from pieces of different coloured fabrics that are adhered to the ground.

The other face of the fan is covered with the same white tabby woven silk fabric. A three-dimensional picture of foliage, bird and butterfly has been adhered onto this ground. The picture is made by adhering ice-blue and purple feathers (Kingfisher?) onto pieces of card, which are layered and curled to create a 3D relief. Underneath the feathers, the card is partially covered in shiny black paint. In addition to the feathers, the butterfly wing is adorned with a red sequin (the opposite wing appears to have lost its sequin). It also has two very small yellow sequins as eyes. Its antennae are made from red painted paper/card (the left antenna has broken off). The bird's eye is made from painted paper (black on red ground). An area of purple feathers on the left side of the fan (underneath the bird) is surrounded by a gold metal thread (thin paper? substrate coated in gold leaf, wrapped around a red fibrous core - silk?). The veins of the leaves are delineated in adhered strips of paper coated in a silvery substance. The centres of the blossoms are made from pale red and yellow curly thread.