The mother-of-pearl fan of Marie-Caroline, Duchess of Berry

This precious early 19th century mother-of-pearl fan belonged to Marie Caroline de Bourbon (1798-1870), Princess of Naples and Sicily, who became the Duchess of Berry and the mother of the Duke of Bordeaux, Count of Chambord, who embodied the hope of a final restoration of the monarchy for the Royalist Legitimists. Its iridescent grey mother-of-pearl strands, engraved with Chinese characters, are held by a fine blue silk ribbon. The object perfectly evokes the carefree years, at the court of Louis XVIII and Charles X, of the intrepid princess...