Our task is at length completed; we have endeavoured to trace to its source in the dimmest past the chequered history of this little toy, once the pride and the glory of kings, and now the plaything of queens. We trust we have shown that, in the words of Sir George Birdwood, there is perhaps more in a fan than was dreamt of in Johnson’s matter-of-fact definition:—‘An instrument used by ladies to move the air and cool themselves.’ What, then, of the future? May we reasonably look forward in this twentieth century for a renaissance of the fan; for a re-attainment, if not of its past spiritual significance, at least of something of its artistic possibilities? [Illustration: Sketch Design for Fan, by Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A.] [Illustration: A Garland of Children, by G. Woolliscroft Rhead.] The future is full of hope; we have turned our backs upon the bad old nineteenth century, with its manifold outrages upon the æsthetic sense; the foundations, at any rate, of a living art have begun to be laid—were begun, as a matter of fact, by this same nineteenth century, following that strange natural order of the outcome of good from evil and the apparent inseparability of both; a new Phœnix has arisen out of the ashes of the old; a new era has come, showing everywhere signs of a revived artistic life, with plenty of capable heads to invent and willing hands to carry out. Mesdames, it is with your charming selves that the issue rests. You have but to utter the word and your sceptre shall again become a wonder of wreathed beauty and woven grace, rivalling in its blossoming the golden-flowered sceptres of eld![175] [Illustration: FROM A CHINESE LACQUERED SCREEN. (Victoria and Albert Museum.)] FOOTNOTES: [1] Gay, _The Fan_. [2] _Adventures of Harry Richmond_ (the italics are ours). [3] _Tatler_, No. 52, Aug. 9, 1709. [4] Goldoni in his _Mémoires_ gives an account of ‘The Fan.’ It was written and first brought out in Paris, and soon became universally popular, especially in Venice.—Helen Zimmern, _Masterpieces of Foreign Authors_. [5] M. A. Flory, _A Book about Fans_. [6] Letter of Mrs. Scott, 1761, to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Robinson.—Dr. Doran, _A Lady of the Last Century_ (Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu). [7] In an engraving of an English Noblewoman by Gaspar Rutz, 1581, a long-handled feather-fan appears. [8] The fan here referred to was chiefly used inside the Courts as punkah, to create a little circulation of the air, and to dissipate the horrible odours for which these places were notorious. [9] This assertion that the handles of fans were occasionally employed in the castigation of refractory children is borne out by the droll story of Sir Thomas More punishing his daughters with a fan of peacock’s feathers for the offence of running him into debt with the milliner. [10] Layard, _Nineveh_. [11] Wilkinson, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_. [12] Thus Agamemnon in _Troilus and Cressida_, Act I. Scene iii.: