λ A late 18th century painted ballooning fan, the carved and...

Hammer

£3,400

λ A late 18th century painted ballooning fan, the carved and gilt guards with mother-of-pearl veneer to the recesses, the sticks with reticulated scrollwork including bird, floral, and figural motifs, the double paper leaf hand painted with two small cartouches (with male and female portraits above each) and a large central cartouche, each depicting balloon ascents, the verso with a pastoral scene, with paste stones at the rivet, the main scene depicts a Montgolfier ascent at the Pilatre de Rozeir in the Le Flessel balloon from Lyon, France, January 19, 1784, the smaller vignettes show the ascent by the Marquis d'Arlandes and Pilatre de Rozier in a Montgolfier from La Muette, November 21, 1783, and the ascent by Abbe Bertrand in the Dijon balloon in April 1784, length 28.5 cm, provenance: Bonhams, Fine Ballooning Art: The Property of a Gentleman, 16 December 1991, Lot. 34