International Fan

Romance, war and family come together in the tale of this intricate brisé fan. With nineteen carved guardsticks of ivory or bone, the fan is held together by a brass rivet and a silk ribbon woven through the sticks. There is little doubt it is a fine piece of work and it has a fine piece of history to match. It was originally dispatched to New Zealand from Palestine by Frederick Tucker, who was serving with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles in the campaign against the Ottoman Turks during World War One. Frederick sent the fan home to his daughter Mollie, but he never returned to see her use it, as he was killed by a sniper on 1 April 1918. Mollie kept the fan and in the 1950s it was passed on to her daughter Natalie, who came to New Plymouth as a nurse. Natalie carried the fan when she was married in 1955 and then cared for it together with her wedding outfit, which was made by New Plymouth dressmaker Mrs Suhr, using materials purchased from Haughton’s Dress Fabric shop. The whole bridal collection, including the fan, was donated to Puke Ariki in 2006.