Edna Wallace-Hopper, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This is a late nineteenth-century card featuring the actress Edna Wallace Hopper, likely made with albumen print, from the Actors and Actresses series for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. Notice how she holds a fan close to her face. The fan, an instrument of air and subtle communication, has deep roots. In ancient times, fans were not merely for cooling; they were emblems of status and power. Think of the flabella used in religious ceremonies, or the elaborate fans carried by royalty. Over time, in the hands of women, the fan became a tool for a coded language of flirtation and secrecy. The way a woman held her fan could convey a myriad of messages, from interest to disdain. What is she trying to tell us? The fan, pressed against her cheek, is an alluring posture; a coy invitation and a gesture, charged with a sense of mystery. The fan has shed its original skin but never lost its soul, evolving through epochs, constantly collecting new layers of meaning. It is this dance of metamorphosis that reveals the enigmatic dialogue between past and present.