This beautiful antique hand held folding fan is fully functional and is a wonderful example of French craftsmanship. The bone sticks and guard are in very good shape, and the pink embossed paper has gorgeous illustrations of courting scenes on the front and the back. The fan sports a small mirror on the guard, and the original tassel is intact. It measures 10" in height and 16" in width when opened. 

Provenance: This fan belonged to Elizabeth Priscilla Ackerman Haring. It was passed down four generations, first to her daughter Sophia Frances Haring Ryley (1850-1914), then to her granddaughter Evelyn Anderson Polhemus (1903-1996), and finally to her great-granddaughter, Janice Bernston Polhemus Jessup (1933-2024). 

When Elizabeth Priscilla Ackerman was born on 12 January 1833, in New York City, New York County, New York, United States, her father, Cornelius Johannes Ackerman, was 38 and her mother, Priscilla Banta, was 42. She married Jacob C. Haring on 16 January 1850, in New North Reformed Low Dutch Church, Upper Saddle River, Bergen, New Jersey, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. She lived in Orangetown, Rockland, New York, United States for about 20 years. She died on 7 January 1906, at the age of 72, and was buried in Nanuet True Reformed Cemetery, Nanuet, Clarkstown, Rockland, New York