Vive la Bagatelle (engraved fan design)

[London]: Sarah Ashton, No. 28, Little Britain, 1797. Original example of London fan maker Sarah Ashton’s delightful “Vive la Bagatelle” design, published on New Year’s Day in 1797. Instructing its bearer to “live, love, & laugh,” this “conundrum fan” offers hours of diversion in the form of riddles, jokes, and word games, scattered across the fan in a tromp l’oeil profusion of scrolls, scraps, and ribbons. In the central medallion, the owl of Minerva peers up from a book in the library, above the dedication: “Grave Wisdom, from thy seat awhile, / Descend to crack a joke & smile; / Amusement will do all she can; / To please you in this little Fan.” Along the base of the fan is a calendar file, overflowing with invitations for the coming two weeks: museums, masquerades, concerts, balls, and visits with friends. Publisher Sarah Ashton was admitted to the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers in 1770. She produced a series of elaborate fan designs over the next three decades, many of them featuring literary themes. Schreiber 207. We locate examples at the London Museum, the Met, Huntington, UCLA, Yale, and Washington University. A rare survival, at the intersection of printing and fashion, in fine condition. Engraved fan design, measuring 10 x 19.5 inches, laid on backing sheet measuring 11 x 21 inches, as issued in preparation for mounting on sticks. Edges untrimmed, ghost of old hinging tape to verso.