Woman's black lace fan owned by members of the Ellis family

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A black lace and sequin fan with eighteen (18) black flat wooden ribs with a flat verso and carved or pressed designs on the front attached by black mesh leaves in an accordion fold between two decoratively carved guards that are flat on the verso and rounded on the front. The guards and ribs are held together at the handle with a steel pin and rivet. The rivet also holds a curved black painted brass loop. The open fan shows two black mesh leaves that are adorned with silver sequins that have been attached from the verso with stitches of brown thread. The leaves are backed with a layer of black mesh. Both layers are stitched together with a continuous lace border at the outermost edge. They are slipped over the ribs and adhered with a spot of adhesive.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗