Paris and Oenone: A Mid-18th Century Ivory Fan, the sticks carved, pierced and painted in autumnal colours. Both guards feature a figure and background scrolling, the gorge more elaborate, decorated with a central pastoral carving of a seated lady pointing to a man playing a pipe, several sheep to his side. A vignette to the left depicts two cherubs and one to the right is carved with a bird stealing fruit from a bowl. Oenone was a mountain nymph with whom Paris fell in love when he was a shepherd on the slopes of Mount Ida. They married, only for Oenone to be abandoned when Paris returned to Troy to take Helen the Queen of Sparta. Oenone then predicted the Trojan War. The double paper leaf shows Oenone in white with a vivid blue shawl and Paris in beige and lilac, under the shade of a tree, a small winged cherub pulling at her skirts. Behind Paris, who appears to be marking initials on the tree, a hovering Cupid is about to shoot his arrow. To the right, an overflowing fountain holds two tiny embracing cherubs. The reserves are painted in fresh blues with pink carnations and hints of gold, a bird and shells decorating a floral outer border. A solitary lady in pink graces the verso, at rest, having gathered a posy of blue flowers which complement the ribbon in her hair. A fresh and airy floral border decorates the edges an upper reserves. Guard length 28cm