Ventaglio
San Marco 3395

Alberto Toso Fei narrates...

”The fan has been, for centuries, a silent accomplice of female charm, in Venice and elsewhere: a tool for invitation, a shield from unwanted glances, and it even had its own language of encouragement, promise, praise, threat, and forgiveness.

Whether made of silk, parchment, or painted paper, waved slowly it meant ‘I am married’; a quick movement indicated ‘I am only engaged.’ Held on the right cheek it meant ‘yes’; on the left, a clear yet silent ‘no.’ Touching the closed fan with fingers at the top meant ‘I would like to talk to you.’

Small designs on the palm? ‘I hate you’; small designs on the cheek? ‘I love you’; dropping the fan in front of the interlocutor was a clear invitation to be followed later.

Among the various silk manufacturers used in Venetian fans, there is one family business that has been active since the time of the Serenissima, continuing to weave silks and other fabrics using also looms from the 18th century: Rubelli, which in 1781 was admitted to the Silk Merchants’ Guild with the shop ‘Insegna del Coraggio’ opened in Merceria, in San Marco, by Giovanni Paolo Rubelli.

Thus, the history of Venetian craftsmanship blends the past—with its legends—with the present and the future, making Venice unique, able to project itself into the future of advanced technology while maintaining its ancient tradition”.