The Botanic Fan

Publisher Sarah Ashton British

1792

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 690

Ashton is a rare example of a female fan maker active in eighteenth-century London whose work is identifiable thanks to the inscription of her name—most often in the role of publisher—on printed fan leaves. This design shows how fans could serve as instruments of instruction. It illustrates two methods of classifying plants: by leaf shape or by botanist Carl Linnaeus’s sexual system based on the arrangement of stamens and pistils. The format of the fan allowed for close-looking, easy comparison, and repeated study.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title:
The Botanic Fan
Publisher:
Sarah Ashton (British, active London 1770–98)
Date:
1792
Medium:
Hand-colored etching and engraving
Dimensions:
Mat: 16 × 22 in. (40.6 × 55.9 cm)
Classification:
Prints
Credit Line:
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1960
Object Number:
60.572
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Fan leaf celebrating the Duchess of York
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The Ladies Bill of Fare, or, a Copious Collection of Beaux
George Wilson (British, active 1795–1801)
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