Anonymous – France, (c.1675-1690)
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17 cent. Lady’s Fan
- (c. 1675-1690), mixed media on parchment or vellum
- Private Collection
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Editor’s Note:
This scene of pig butchering in a village or castle farm setting is reminiscent of other engraved or painted scenes by artists such as Teniers, Ostade and Heyden, or as depicted in various Books of Hours.
It seems an unusual scene for a lady’s fan, as we see the pig alive, then bled, cut up, cured, and even transformed into a balloon toy!
Additional Views:
bleeding the pig
cutting up the pig
soaking the pig in brine
children inflate the pig’s bladder as a toy
About the Artist
Anonymous, France, (c.1675-1690). This fan of 17th century origin was framed or “put in the rectangle” by a later collector, transforming it into a small hanging picture.
The original fan leaf (top image) was glued onto a wood panel and paint was added to blend with the fan leaf half-circle (lower image) to form a rectangular work. Marks of the fan folds are still visible in sections of the final work.