She is a collector, dealer and fan consultant to Tennants in North Yorkshire, the sole auction house in the UK with a dedicated fan department.
Cooper, who lives in France, will be bringing a selection of her fans to the fair. She said: “These are priced from £20 for an advertising fan up to £800 for a serious one, which might be mythological or religious in subject and for a collector. Something from the 19th century which would include colourful feather fans would be £80-200.’’
She is also the publicity officer for The Fan Circle International and started collecting fans 35 years ago when she fell in love with a lace one.
Cooper has stood at the Textile Society’s fairs since they started in 1992. She said: “I only keep the most interesting of each type as I use them for private exhibitions, with around 100 in stock at any time.”
Asked to name a favourite in her collection, this would probably be the Granville fan which “came down from Lady Granville who was presented with it after Lord Granville helped with the Paris 1867 exhibition. It is inscribed with the event details, painted and sculpted by known artists and sold by Alexandre, the Parisian fan-maker and retailer and is probably worth £2000.”
More attractions
Talking about some of the other exhibitors at the Manchester fair, organiser Debra Roberts said: “These include Clive Rogers with fantastic rugs, Christine Laurence with beautiful Indonesian accessories and Sallie Ead with her range of historical textiles. Jenpatola, aka Jennifer Evans, is currently out in India sourcing for the fair, and the renowned dealer John Gillow will be selling tribal and folk textiles.”
The Textile Society was founded in 1982, launching its first fair held annually in Manchester from 1992, with the annual London fair established in 2013.
Tennants holds around three annual fan auctions, with an upcoming sale taking place on Saturday, March 9.
