Round Japanese Fan 'Aisai'

The round hand fan painted with porcelain-blue peonies

This fan takes the round-disc form of an old palace fan. A circular leaf, rimmed in black and mounted on a black handle, carries peonies painted in soft porcelain blue — full blooms and buds shading from pale sky to deep cobalt against a clean white ground. A long tassel hangs from the handle, completing the courtly look.

The blue-and-white treatment recalls fine glazed ceramic: the peonies are built up in tonal washes of blue, deep in the shadows and pale at the petal tips, so the flowers read with real depth against the white. The round silhouette frames them like a painted plate or a full moon.

This is a round hand fan (the rigid, paddle-style uchiwa form), not a folding sensu: a fixed circular leaf on a straight handle, held and waved from the wrist. Its decorative tassel and painted disc make it as much an ornament as an accessory.

It works as a graceful accessory and, just as readily, as a decorative piece — propped on a stand or hung by its tassel, the blue peony disc reads as a small round painting. The porcelain palette suits refined, classic interiors.

Handcrafted on a bamboo structure with a classic round silhouette, it pairs gentle utility with a painterly blue-and-white scene. A round peony hand fan for anyone drawn to the calm beauty of porcelain blue.

The round hand fan, or uchiwa in its rigid form, descends from the courtly fans once carried at palace and tea ceremony, where a painted disc on a handle was as much an emblem of refinement as a way to stir the air. This blue-peony version keeps that courtly grace, equally suited to gentle use and to quiet display.

• Traditional flat fan (uchiwa) design
• Bamboo wood structure
• Handcrafted construction
• Dimensions: 13 x 24 cm
• Functional accessory and decorative piece