Types of Fan

BATTOIRE:   A folding fan with wide sticks, its shape resembling a tennis racquet.

BRISÉ:  A folding fan comprised solely of sticks and guards, the sticks held by a ribbon at top and a pivot pin/rivet at the base.

CABRIOLET: A folding fan with two or more concentric leaves set one above another and resembling a section of the wheel of the cabriolet horse-drawn carriage.

COCKADE: A folding fan, either brisé or with a leaf, that opens 360°, often with extended guards that form a handle.

DISLOCATION:  A trick fan designed to fall apart when opened in the reverse direction.

FLABELLUM a (pl) A fan used in medieval times in church to keep insects away from the consecrated eucharist. It was made of metal, leather, silk, parchment or feathers.

FLAG FAN:  A fixed fan with the handle on one side, resembling a flag.

FOLDING FAN: A fan that opens and closes from a head.

FONTANGE: A folding fan with a rounded, arched leaf that is taller at its centre than at its guards. Named after a high headdress popular at the turn of the 17th and 18th century, particularly in France.

FORME BALLON: A folding fan similar to a fontange but more rounded likea balloon.

GUNBAI: A Japanese metal screen fan used as protection in war.

GUNSEN: A Japanese folding fan used as a signal in war. Typically having metal guards, the leaf features a sun on one side and the moon on the other.

HANDSCREEN (FIXED FAN): A rigid screen attached to a handle with no folding mechanism.

PALMETTE: A folding fan with individual leaves attached to each stick, held with a thread.

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PIEN-MIEN: A Chinese handscreen.

TELESCOPIC:  A folding fan with a mechanism that allows the sticks to slide into the ribs when the fan is closed.

TESSEN:  A Japanese metal bar designed to look like a folded fan that was used as a protective weapon.