Unfolding Pictures: The Golden Crown Marriage Fan, Germany, 1700

Marriage Fan, 1700
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Brides were often presented with fans as gifts on their wedding day. This tradition lasted well into the early Twentieth Century. This fan was such a gift. Here, we see a fan with ivory sticks and guards and a painted vellum leaf showing a pattern of hearts and a crown.


Wedding fans sometimes illustrated past, historic or famous wedding ceremonies, but also displayed symbols of betrothal and marriage. This particular fan is the earliest marriage fan in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The symbolic design shows two hearts surmounted by a gold crown. This composition represents the sacred “coronation” of the union of the betrothed. These symbols are surrounded by swags and roses in the traditional Baroque style.

Though we’re not precisely sure from where the fan came, the style of the painted vellum leaf suggests that it was the work of a provincial workshop as opposed to one of the more established studios in Paris, London or Amsterdam.