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In the second quarter of the 19th century, theorem painting allowed young girls in schoolgirl academies to design and paint still life compositions by using a group of stencils which could be laid upon velvet, cotton, silk, satin, or more rarely, paper.  Once the stencil grouping was complete, the young lady could paint each individual component inside each stencil with depth and toning not before achieved in America by the use of stencils.  Before the introduction of theorem painting, stencils were used primarily for wall and floor designs.  The use of stencils for painting allowed schoolgirls and young wives to make "fancy pieces" for their own homes as well as gifting to friends.  The painting teacher would trace designs onto drawing paper that had been coated on both sides with linseed oil to make it transparent and then varnished so that the "horn paper" was stiff and the paint would not soak through.  The instructor would then cut the design stencil with a pen knife.  Students could pick from the teacher's stencils, arranging them on their own backing (velvet, cotton, silk, satin, or, more rarely, paper) to build her own composition.  The stencils would then be weighted down and paint carefully applied stencil-by-stencil to produce a still life or sometimes even more elaborate scenes such as mourning or Classical-genre paintings.  The final painting was usually embellished with some hand-painting, even if just a few tendrils coming from grapevines.  While most theorems were meant to be framed, the painting technique was also used to decorate pincushions, purses, belts, table, bed covers and, as here, hand-held face screens (to protect ones tender face from the heat of a nearby hearth fire (in current days, referred to as fans).

This face screen is a wonderful theorem on fine paper with a lovely center floral design of morning glories in blue with white centers and yellow stamens and rose.  Green serrated leaves surround the flowers.  Delicate gold foil (more specifically referred to as passapartout) edges the beautifully shaped face-screen.  A slender wood handle is beautifully turned and water gilded over a red bole that is peeking through the gold from desirable wear.  The effect of the gold over red is stunning, especially with such wonderful turnings.  The fan body is held stiff with card which is sandwiched between the fine paper front and a textured ivory colored paper on the back.  As you can see in the images, the face of the screen has a bit of discoloration, mostly on the left side.  The foil has, expectantly, worn away in some places.  A few of the points at the edge of the screen have worn to show the card underneath (at 10 o'clock, 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock when looking at the front of the fan).  The back textured paper has some staining, particularly, there is a large light stain just to the left of center when looking at the back.  The lightness of the textured paper caused my lighting to bounce and make the back look more white than it is in person.  The stain is a little more prominent than it appears in the images, but still very hard to see at all.  These are small apologies for such rarities.  The face of the screen measures 9" wide by 7 1/2" tall at the farthest points.  The overall height of the fan, including the handle is 14".

I have two of these fans in my collection.  I covet these fans and can't believe that I have 3 to offer currently!  This one is very special because of the shaping of the screen and the really wonderfully turned gilt handle.  The price on this face screen is really good--don't let it slip away!

This is a wonderful example of American schoolgirl art.  Circa 1830.

(#5023)     $425

Please see Theorem Painting in America for more information on this wonderful form of American folk art.

Backside of handle

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