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Published since 1985, Carter's Price Guide to Antiques & Collectables displays actual sold prices for around 465,000 items ranging in price from $5 to over $1 million, with all items fully indexed.

All about fans

Fans were first used in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Many of the more intricate ones carried concealed knives or stilettos, as it was often dangerous to walk alone after nightfall or in a dark alley, especially in Renaissance Italy. Fans were of course functional, serving to keep off flies, shield one from the heat of a fire, or create a current of fresh air. Gradually, fans became an almost essential accessory for the fashionable, and no skill or expense was spared in their design and manufacture.

At the beginning of the 19th century, fans were considered an indispensable dress accessory for ladies attending balls and other functions. Three major types of fan were in use at that time.

Folding fans, the most common, consisted more...

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