Producer unknown to us
Fan
Asia, Southern India
Prior to 1900
Wood, carved
Clara Hedwig von Eberstein (baroness)
Purchased by the museum from Eberstein in 1900
SAs 00223
The simplicity of this braided hand fan suggests that it was used in the 19th century to kindle embers during everyday cooking on the charcoal stove. The collector Clara Hedwig von Eberstein, who had helped the museum acquire its founding collection through a substantial donation, brought the hand fan back from a trip she took with the Leipzig missionary E. R. Baierlein and his wife. The journey took them through Greece, Egypt, present-day Israel, Syria, and India. The objects she brought back with her and the art objects in the museum's collections come from her estate. Baierlein published the journey in his book "Nach und aus Indien" (“To and From India”), published in Leipzig in 1873. No writings have survived from Frau von Eberstein, one of the wealthiest businesswomen in Leipzig at the time.
Carola Krebs