This fan is a high-quality example of Cantonese fan production in the 1830s or 1840s: large numbers of figures were shown, in which the faces are painted on tiny pieces of ivory and the clothes are made of real silk, pasted onto the paper ground. Gradually (as on the verso of this fan) whole leaves were decorated with crowded figure groups. However, the older traditions of fan decoration, where flowers and (later) topographical views dominated, also continued. At either side of the central figure scene, in which a magistrate greets his son who returns home on a white horse, are views of Macao: at the right the Praya Grande; on the left the Penha Hill with two ships bearing the red ensign, as flown by the British merchant navy. Macao, on the south-west shore of the Yellow River delta, was a popular winter residence for Europeans based in China. Although Macao had its own fan industry, fans produced there are normally identifiable by their use of vivid yellows and pinks. The Cantonese origin of this fan is confirmed through the survival of the original coloured lacquer box, finely decorated with figures, flowers and buildings. On the base of the inside of the box is the trade label of the shop (Volong) in Canton which supplied the fan.

Text adapted from Unfolding Pictures: Fans in the Royal Collection 2005