Folding range, consisting of a single leaf of thin leather on which a Gods meal (?) surrounded by an edge with red, blue and gold chinoiserie motifs, carved with gouache, on a frame of ivory ajour and embossed, anonymous, c. 1740 - c. 1750 Canvas Print
Nine figures have been gathered around a set table in a garden with many water features. A number of them can be recognized by their attributes: Hera (peacock), Ganymede (giver of the Gods:wine glass), Artemis (crescent moon), Hermes (staff with wings), Apollo (winch and sunbeams) and Zeus (scepter and eagle on lightning bolts). Given the armor of the man and the partially exposed upper body of the woman, Aphrodite and Ares (Mars and Venus), the relatively centrally placed pair could represent an extramarital relationship. This identification is supported by one of the most striking parts in this performance: an Amor, who holds a mask in front of his face with his right hand. In the 'Amorvm Emblemata...' by Otto Vaenius from 1608' Gheveynstheyt Liefdes wijsheyt' is the caption to an Amor, which partially covers his face with a mask. The accompanying verse explains that a relationship is better kept secret in the interest of (unfair?) love. (Antwerp 1608, pp. 220-1: Gheveynstheyt Liefdes wijsheyt./ D te bedrieghen lief quam noyt in mijn ghepeynsen/ hoe wel ick am disguised/ and be but not vernaert/ 't Is om de nijders wil en tonghen valsch van aert./ A lover must be conceived for the people veynsen./ Il faut se feindre./ Ie ne te veux tromper, ma Dame, n'ayes crainte,/ Encore que masqué, ie suis loyal & round,/ Pour courrir nos amours ie disguise mon front,/ Et pour les rendre seurs de l'ennuieuse attainte.') Cf. also Caesar of Everdingen's painting 'Jupiter and Callisto' expresses 1655 [Stockholm, National Museum] on which in the upper left corner two amoretti, the left of which holds a mask. In the tent.cat. 'God and the Gods' (Amsterdam 1981, pp. 216-7) albert Blankert writes about this:'The mask is a symbol of disguise and also of deceit. The amoretti, and it also seems jupiter itself, view the nymph mockingly. The left amaretto, which holds the mask in one hand, makes an obscene [the thumb between the index and middle fingers] gesture with the other.' Due to the unusual composition of the company depicted, this is probably not a mythological representation, but an allegory of love. This can also be found in the decoration of the frame, where in the middle a woman and a putto hold two burning hearts together. The legs have a straight shoulder, which had supplanted the round shoulder around the middle of the 18th century. The ends of the legs that disappear behind the leaf are not made of ivory but of thin wood, which is painted over during assembly à l'anglaise. This was a very common solution that was usually applied to single-leaf fans. On the back of the leaf is a seated woman, holding a cornucopia with flowers. The fan ring is a later addition; it was only in the 19th century that it became common use to mount such a ring of precious or other metal on a impeller.
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