This circumstance led to the adoption of fans of a richer and more ornate description. Fashion hastened to make the toy worthy of figuring in grand adornment; the ordinary wood of the stick was replaced by other supports of a more precious material, with incrustations of gold, silver, enamel, and jewels. More capable artists were employed for the execution of the mounts; the éventaillistes learnt from the Italians to derive their inspiration from the great masters of their school. The decoration of the fan-leaves, therefore, acquired something of the suavity, graciousness, and courtliness associated with the work of the painters of the Grand Siècle. It was, doubtless, some such fan, some enchanting reminiscence of the dainty ‘putti’ of Poussin, that Madame de Sévigné sent to her daughter, Madame de Grignan.—‘The Chevalier de Buous brings you a fan, which I think very pretty: they are not little loves upon it, for without doubt they are little chimney-sweeps, the most charming little sweeps in the world.’[105] Two fans are known of the beginning of the reign of the Grand Monarque. One, of which only the feuille is preserved, is in the possession of Mr. J. G. Rosenberg, of Karlsruhe, the other in the Schreiber collection, British Museum. The former is painted in gouache on swan skin, and represents the signing of the marriage contract between Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa, which event took place at St. Jean de Luz on the Spanish frontier in 1660. The king and queen are seated before a table in the centre, the courtiers standing in a semicircle, the men in their fur-trimmed robes, the ladies all bearing fans; an official in the foreground is reading aloud the marriage contract. The pattern of the carpet is seized upon as a decorative _motif_, and forms a diapered groundwork to the composition after the manner of the earlier miniaturists. This truly magnificent mount betrays no evidence of the Italian influence; no suggestion of ‘le premier peintre du Roi,’[106] but entirely reminiscent of the great traditional French style. It is, moreover, an original production, rather than, as is the case of so many fan leaves, a mere transcription of the work of the greater artists. [Illustration: Battoir Fan, leaf paper, painted with medallions referring to the marriage of the Dauphin with Maria Theresa of Spain, stick & guards ivory finely carved & gilt, bearing the fleurs-de-lys of France & arms of Navarre. 18-1/2 × 9-1/2. The Dowager Marchioness of Bristol.] In the Schreiber fan leaf, the king and queen are seated under a canopy, a Cupid above bearing a rose garland and palm branch. The ladies of the court, all holding fans, are seated around in a semicircle, and on the right Cupids prepare the nuptial couch. This leaf, which has been much repainted, is in gouache on paper, with gilding in places; it has been removed from the mount and pasted on an oak panel.