Weapons of Seduction- Exhibition
I had the pleasure of seeing a preview of the "Weapons of Seduction" exhibition today.
It's part of the 210 historical Fan collection, belonging to Medeiros & Almeida Foundation, and it's one of the largest in the world.
The history, the delicacy and beauty in every detail, left me dreaming... How much fun women had, in an epoch in which the fans were the best way to communicate with our secret loved ones!
The Fan Room, has a selection of 72 fans, chronicles the historical development of this accessory, from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.
Permanently from November 28 in the "Casa-Museu Medeiros & Almeida" in Lisbon, this exhibition features representative of different historical and cultural periods as well as various formal and aesthetic typologies fans.
Fashion is a weapon of seduction and women know it. The Fan was a necessary accessory, a symbol of power, luxury and seduction, including its own language, which allowed women to communicate and relate to through a code with men.
António Medeiros e Almeida (1895-1986), founder of the House Museum, was this collection of fans over the past two and half decades of life and are part of it, among others, fans that were owned by Queen D. Amélia (1865- 1951) and the Empress Eugenie D. Montijo (1826-1920), the latter the wife of Napoleon III (1808-1873) who ruled as Emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, a period that would be designated as the Second French Empire.
They are simply amazing!
FAN LANGUAGE
There are numerous literary testimonies, about the "Fan Language". It's history goes back to the seventeenth century and it was first used in Spain.
In the nineteenth century the celebrated Parisian "éventailiste" Duvelleroy, publishes a new and more effective "Fan Language", through which they conveyed messages of love nature. It was distributed in the form of a small libretto included with the fan package, in order to increase their sales.
Different versions of this code were being produced over time, and although male strove to learn, it was for them virtually impossible to correctly decipher every nuance of the movements and positions of fans belonging to the women of their interest. Here are some moves that you can use, with your "Weapon of Seduction".
Don't miss this exhibition!
link here for more info:casamuseumedeirosealmeida
