The museum’s collection contains one of the most unusual and important women’s accessories used in communicating all the intentions and wishes of its owner — a fan.

Various materials were used to make fans: bone, fabric, wood and even turtle shell. They were decorated with lace of various colors. The museum has white, black and golden fans. The choice of color, material and decor was of great importance since a fan was like a calling card. Its color could point to the woman’s age and even indicate if she had any dowry. The white color of the fan meant innocence, if it was embroidered with gold, it hinted at a rich dowry. Fans came in a variety of shapes, including brisé, plié, palmette and cockade.

The collection of the Ivanovo Museum of Local History presents a plié fan. Its design is notable for thin bone sticks and a paper leaf. This indispensable item of a woman’s ballroom attire gave the lady the opportunity to declare her love, reject an affectionate admirer, arrange dates and do some scheming — all that without uttering a single word. One graceful wave of a fan in a tiny hand — and any whim was satisfied, given that the gentleman knew the secret language of fans.

In most cases, balls were held in huge halls and involved a large number of people. Although these halls were usually by no means underlit, it was not easy to draw attention to oneself. And for such situations, fans were equipped with some additional parts. The displayed fan has a special hole for attaching a small mirror. It was used to reflect the light in order to attract someone’s attention, as well as to observe what was happening behind the back. Sometimes a magnifying glass was used instead of a mirror to take a better look at a certain person. The language of fans had many variations depending on the social gathering and even the city the event was held in. Back then, the fan could be “read” during the conversation by the change of its position, the movement of the hand and the number of strips that the fan opened and instantly closed. Although it was the ladies who handled fans, it fell to the gentlemen to whom the messages were addressed to know all the intricacies of the secret language.