Embroidered Fan for Wedding Ceremony

1850–1950

Embroidered Fan for Wedding Ceremony, 1850–1950. Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Circular fan; copper alloy, silk, metal thread, and paper; diameter: 29.9 cm (11 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Director's Contingent Fund 1918.559 In the Joseon period, women between the ages of 14 and 20 were matched with a husband through an arranged marriage. Even during the marriage ceremony, a bride was supposed to veil her face with this type of embroidered fan as a gesture of chastity. The fan’s body is made of paper and silk trimmed with a gilded metal rim. On the front, four cranes—one pair in blue, the other in yellow—are stitched along with auspicious clouds. The back is adorned with cranes flying amid clouds and blossoms of peonies. This fan was not to cool oneself, but rather to veil a bride's face during a wedding ceremony as a gesture of chastity.