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This intricately designed artifact (dated 1590 – 1620) is a rare survivor of a short-lived style which was a popular fashion statement of its time. Today, no other examples can be found of this folding fan dating earlier than the 17th century. Fans with a striking similarity to this appeared in two portraits of Queen Elizabeth I.
No other examples of this type of fan – that is to say a folding fan with sticks joined at the pivot end with a cord or ribbon – are thought to have survived.