"Thousand Faces" painted fan, China, late 19th century

Fan ‘Thousand Faces’, Canton, 19th century. Painted paper with ivory appliqué for the faces, and textiles for the dresses on the front and back (damage on the paper). Carved and fret worked ivory and patterns with scenes of characters in relief.

Fan size: 26 x 49.5 cm (approx.); Fan holder size: 36.5 x 61 cm.

It is very important for our Users to know that all the ivories, both carved and not carved, that we put in our auction have been carefully checked and studied by our experts, requesting all the necessary information to determine that these pieces have not been obtained illegally and that they fulfil all the necessary requirements of the Cites and Soivre legislation on animal protection. In the case of antiques, processed specimens acquired before the entry into force of the Regulation, i.e. before 1 June 1947, would be exempted from the prohibition indicated in the previous paragraphs. The competent authorities indicate that a CITES certificate is not required in this case. All our lots of old ivories are accompanied by a Certificate of Guarantee of Origin prior to 1947.   There are a number of exceptions to this prohibition, provided that it can be reliably demonstrated that the specimens were acquired or introduced into Spain before 1 January 1986.

At present, in Spain, it is not possible to sell ivory pieces without CITES documentation, except as indicated above.