Waterloo: Life & Times

Commemorating the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo

2015 marks the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo and what better way to honour the occasion than an exhibition celebrating this tumultuous period in Europe’s history and its associated heroes (and villains!)

WATERLOO: LIFE & TIMES features fans and fan leaves designed to commemorate significant military battles and victories associated with the period leading up to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, at which the French were finally defeated by the Allied armies after a prolonged period of fighting. The exhibition includes fans printed with portraits of heroic figures like Nelson and Wellington and fan leaves printed in England but destined for Spain, such as those celebrating the accession to the throne of Ferdinand VII.

Away from the ‘battle action’ the social scene at this time revolved around glittering balls and assemblies – events at which ladies carried elegant fans richly decorated with sequins and delicately painted with classically themed vignettes; visitors can expect to see a glittering array of such styles dating c. 1800 – 1820. Interweaving historical narratives with fashion and decorative art objects, the exhibition offers a unique perspective on a period often overlooked in popular fan historiographies.

Bone fan with light blue leaf embroidered with cut steel sequins. European, c. 1800 Horn fan with silk leaf embroidered with feather motifs and sequins. c. 1800 Horn brisé fan (amber coloured), decorated with an incised design holding silver foil motifs. c. 1800 Folding fan with ivory monture, the silk leaf lavishly embroidered with sequins and painted with a female figure watering plants; net inserts may have been intended as peepholes. c. 1810 Printed fan leaf commemorating the accession to the Spanish throne of King Ferdinand VII. English (for the Spanish market), c. 1808 Bone fan with silk leaf embroidered with sequins. It shows a couple in Classical dress dancing in a painted landscape, a rope of roses between them. Probably Portuguese, c. 1810 Folding fan with cut steel monture, the net leaf applied with three painted cartouches and embroidered with sequins, spangles and intricate gilt motifs. French (probably), c. 1800 Cut steel fan embroidered with cut steel sequins of varied shapes and sizes, with cut out gilt motifs and figures in Classical dress at the temple of the goddess Diana. French, c. 1810