Tawaraya Sōtatsu,Screen with Scattered Fans, early 17th century, Freer Gallery of Art
The history of hand fans in Japan concerns not only custom, but also art and poetry with a strong connection. The Japanese knew about two kinds of fans: the uchiwa, originated from China and made of one flat piece of round or oval shape, and the folding version, termed ōgi (or sensu), which was made up in Japan in the 7th century.
The former was usually adopted to freshen up in the heat of summer days, the latter could be adopted for a variety of purposes and, because of its complex manufacture, ultimately led to codified opening and folding gestures. The ōgi fan was made of paper or silk by female workers, then painted or decorated with handwritten inscriptions by fine workmen and suitably waved in order to be mounted on cypress-wood slats revolving around an end pivot. This implement was largely handled by various operators, notably dancers, Noh or Kabuki actors, samurai in the act of sending signals or even using it like a weapon. Therefore, artwork subjects such as a dancer, an actor or a samurai can safely be identified by means of their ōgi fans. Such ornaments also served as a social-state indicator, so that we might have watched them as being paraded during especially important imperial ceremonies.
Very practiced were also social plays that consisted of comparisons of fans or using them to hit a target.
Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), The Fan-tossing game, about 1847-1852, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (on the lower left, on the carpet, the target to hit)
Another game consists of launching the fans in water to see them float. This game was inspired by the story of a prince and his retinue crossing a bridge in Kyoto. When the prince tossed his fan into the river, the sight was so beautiful that his companions followed suit, tossing their fans. Currently the game of fan tossing in water is a way to greet the end of the summer heat and the arrival of the autumn.
Fans and Clouds Over rocks and Water, folding screen, early 17th century (Sōtatsu?) Freer Gallery of Art
The fans lent to be painted object and painting subject at once: on one hand, painted fans promoted those painting genres often referred to as uchiwa-e and senmenga (the latter involving ōgi fans); on the other, screens and poetry books were usually decorated with fans (for details see later on). Even kimonos decorated fantasies with fans – here is an example – were very popular. Rimpa School established by Sōtatsu and Kōetsu, whose prominent representative was Ogata Kōrin, is notorious for involving hand fan as a subject for art. A considerable number of masters were engaged in fan decorations: this has been the case for Sesson Shukei and Hiroshige.
Nor should it be forgotten that the history of the handheld fan is intimately connected with poetry. It is a known fact that ōgi no sōshi (fan book) is the term evoking a specific literary genre, namely one referring to picturebooks of waka poems with figures contained in fan-shaped contours. This genre was widely adopted during the early Edo eve (1615-1868), and is rooted in the Heian period’s (794-1185) aristocratic tradition of attending team contests on a given poetic subject. The reviewed top poems were then collected in suitable picturebooks.
Copyright © arteingiappone – All rights reserved