Fan with collage of printing-out paper photographs. American or Canadian. 1890s
A wide and wonderful range of women’s accessories utilized photographic images. This period fan is inset with a constellation of tiny, vernacular photographs of Native-Americans and Caucasians utilizing printing-out paper, a glossy paper stock with purple tones that was available from the 1890s to early 1900s. Perhaps created by a missionary’s wife, the fan's cross-hatched construction mimics native basketry styles. The fan’s multiple panels were readymade for a geometric tableaux that, when opened, reveals a sweet narrative of cross-cultural interaction.