Folding Fan Item Number: Ed1.194 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

A closing fan with twenty-eight inner ribs of split bamboo each burned on the base of each side with an abstract design and two parent ribs of bamboo also with a burned design each set into a piece of dark rosewood through which passes a brass rivet. Fan has paper on one side only, white, and unpainted.

History Of Use

Folding fans were used by members of the official “Yangban” class, and sometimes by women of other classes. Korean folding fans were very well-made, and were exported to China and Japan during the Koryo and Chosun Periods. Some had a large number of fine ribs. Fans made of plain handmade paper rather than oiled paper were used in ordinary daily life.