Autographed fan in a case
During the latter half of the 19th century, autograph fans became popular among artistic or literary groups. People would ask family, friends and celebrities to add their signatures to the leaves of their fan. Linley Sambourne was often requested to make such drawings for friends. In 1880 he embarked on collecting signatures for his own fan, but his enthusiasm ran out before the task was quite complete. His granddaughter Anne (Lady Rosse) found the separate leaves put away in a drawer and had them assembled. Most are complete on both sides with signed and dated drawings by Sambourne’s distinguished artist friends, in total thirty-three notable artists including George Frederic Watts, Laurence Alma-Tadema, Colin Hunter, Luke Fildes, and John Tenniel are represented.
19th century
Wood, oil paint
91.0 cm
ST/P/313
Image and text © The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.