Antique Chinese Carved Ivory and Bone Brise Fan Eventail w silk fan box (5490)

Antique Chinese Export brise two sided fan eventail 19th century - 1800 -1890.   Ivory and bone. Comes with antique silk fan box retailed by Gimbel Brothers. 

Measurements:

guards are a little over 8inches (21cm) long. Box is approx 9 1/4 inches / 23.5cm long.  

Description:

Antique Chinese fan made for the export market. Hand carved guards with pierced carved sticks. Deep carving to the guards depicting scholars in landscapes with pagodas and hanging wisteria flowers. The rest of the sticks are carved and pierced - each with different characters amidst country landscape scenes. Very fine detail and variety of scenes.
A silk ribbon connects the individual parts near the top.
At the base the sticks should be held together by a metal loop which is missing and a simple screw has been placed there. There is one mother of pearl washer holding the pin/screw and one rivet missing. 

The fan comes in what is almost certainly it's original box from the retailers Gimbel Brothers. The beautiful fan-shaped box is covered in silk in a salmon pink, green and red fine design. Gold borders to where lid closes.  The inside of the lid, embossed in gold GIMBEL BROTHERS NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA PARIS.

Condition:

The fan is in very good condition. I found no holes/damage to the piercing. The ribbon is intact. The sticks are not warped or discolored.  There is a tiny natural split, less than half a cm long near the top of one stick (see 'photos) - almost certainly natural and mostly superficial.  One mother of pearl washer and metal loop are missing, as mentioned above, but easily replaced.
The box is in very good condition. 

THE STORY:

Gimbels was once the leading luxury departmental store in the USA. They initiated the Thanksgiving Parade. Once the biggest chain of department stores in the country, they closed in 1987. 
The fan was a symbol of luxury and elegance. Besides its cooling function, it was a statement of elegance, fashion and status. The fan was an essential tool for flirting. 
In Victorian and Edwardian eras, fans were essential accessories for women attending balls or operas.