2019.1

Unknown

1975-1976

Advertising Hand Fan, 1976
Made in Japan
Paper and Bamboo
This is a fixed advertising fan with bamboo handle and sticks and double-sided paper leaf depicting image of a Japanese geisha. The front of the bamboo handle is painted with dark brown swirling designs. The bottom frame of fan is made of a single, curved piece of bamboo that pierces the upper part of the handle and extends 1/3 of the way up of the outer edges of fan to where the leaf begins. The back of the leaf is plain off- with white paper with a stamp for the Sakura-Bana Japanese Restaurant on Broad Street in downtown Boston, where the fan was acquired as a souvenir.
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This fan was donated by Maritza Farrell.
2019.1.2

In the 1980s Japanese culture highly influenced the United States from dining to material culture. Freddie Mercury, a British singer and songwriter for Queen, is pictured wearing a Missoni wrap cardigan on April 22, 1975 while he was on tour in Japan. As consumers became more fashion- conscious globally inspired designers emerged and their creative impact spread worldwide. The Missoni fashion house often used brightly printed fabrics creating a mix between art deco patterns and Asian inspired garments based on Japanese Kimonos. The beautifully printed hand fans from Sakura- Bana featuring geisha women attired in traditional garments and accessories were an effective advertising tool during the 1980's.