This late 19th Century Japanese fan is made of tortoise shell with hiramakie and takiemakie gold lacquer, which are both types of applying gold decoration in low or flat relief.  It is termed a “brisé ” fan, meaning that the leaves of the fan have been “broken” or are not continuous, and are held together, in this case, by a narrow white ribbon that pierces each of the 19 identically-shaped leaves near their top and weaves them together. When the fan is collapsed, each leaf stacks on top of the one below it, being open at their sides. The top leaf has been painted a solid black lacquer and is ornamented with a raised gold vine with flowers and leaves coursing down its length. A gold colored ring pierces the bottom of each leaf of the fan, anchoring them toward the bottom, the point from which they fan out. A long, red tassel hangs from the bottom of this ring. When open, each side of the fan bears various gold shapes which appear to be layered on in one of the techniques of applying gold lacquer. Five small, gold forms are scatter across the front, from left to right: a round form with an indentation at the top and small pink flowers and leaves around part of the edge; a square decorated with small birds and long-leaved plants; high in the center of the fan, a round gold form with scalloped edges, ferns and flowers; a gold rhomboid with insects and vines; and on the far right an arc with a delicate branch bearing flowers.  On the reverse side three gold forms are applied to the tortoise shell surface. From left to right these include: A round form, missing the leftmost section of the circle, decorated with leafy plant forms; toward the top center, an arc with birds and ferns; on the right, a rhomboid with birds and leafy plants. Scattered around these three shapes, very small gold leaves or flowers have been applied to the tortoise shell surface.