Vouwwaaier met blad van blond machinaal kant, waarin organza tussenzetsel beschilderd met tempera in grisaille met vogels op bloesemtak, op een montuur van been c. 1890 - 1900

This is a fan created by J.A. Tognacca and F. Cossa, featuring blond machine-made lace and organza painted with tempera in grisaille, mounted on a bone frame. The delicate interplay of textures and the fan's radial composition immediately draw the eye. The fan presents a compelling study in contrasts. The fan’s structure, with its radiating bone struts, creates a semiotic language of both support and separation. These elements, combined with the lace and grisaille painting, speak to the tension between organic and constructed forms. The grisaille work introduces a ghostly, almost photographic quality, challenging our understanding of the object. The fan appears to question the conventional boundaries of representation, and artifice. Ultimately, the fan uses both its structure and imagery to challenge our perceptions. It uses a rich interplay of light, shadow, and texture to reveal the complex dynamics between nature and artifice, organic and inorganic. It suggests that meaning is not fixed but emerges from the constant interplay between these dichotomies.