About

Join TFM Curatorial Assistant Ailsa Hendry as she explores the relationship between dance, fans, and society in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe, assemblies and balls were the centre of the Season where complex dances and social relationships played out. A plethora of dance manuals and sheet music were created to teach the music and social etiquette of the assembly rooms, which included the popularisation of the Country Dance fan and Quadrille fan. 

The Fan Museum is the only museum in the UK devoted to the history of fans and is home to a diverse collection of fans from around the world, dating from the 12th century to the present day.