French spelter, figure of a maiden Brise du Matin painted on…
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French spelter, figure of a maiden brise du Matin painted on wooden plinth, marked Paris France to reverse

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  • Brise Fan - A brise fan consists of flat ribs that become wider from the rivet to the top, and are held in place by a ribbon threaded through slots at the broad end. They do not have a folding leaf. The earliest brise fans came from China and Japan, and were exported to Europe in large quantities from the 17th century onwards. European-made brise fans, an imitation of the delicate Chinese wooden and ivory fans, were composed of thinly-sliced sticks of bone, horn, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, or ivory that were often elaborately carved, gilded, and painted.
  • Spelter - Spelter was the name given to an alloy of zinc and brass or copper used in the 19th century for statuary and lighting. It is a brittle bluish-white metal. It was used as a cheap replacement for bronze, but being brittle easily breaks and can't be repaired. When finished it can often be mistaken for bronze, but if discreet a scratch on the base displays shows a greyish colour, the metal is spelter, if a golden colour the metal is most likely bronze.

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