What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 11am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm Wednesday 11am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm Thursday 11am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm Friday 11am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm Saturday 11am - 1pm 2pm - 5pm

The Fan Museum

Name: The Fan Museum
Address: 12 Crooms Hill, London, SE108ER, GB
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8305 1441
Price range: ££

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The Fan Museum is the first and only museum in the UK devoted in its entirety to all aspects of the ancient art and craft of the fan.

The museum owes its existence to the vision of Hélène Alexander and her late husband, A.V (Dicky) Alexander. When the museum opened its doors to the public back in 1991, the Alexander’s had already been working on the project for some five years. Hélène, over a prolonged period, had amassed an internationally significant collection of fans, fan leaves and associated literature (now numbering over 4000 objects) and the founding of The Fan Museum reflected her desire to promote, conserve, and display fans to a wide audience. In the intermittent years, the museum has staged over sixty temporary exhibitions covering a diverse range of themes: from “Children in Fans” through to “Imperial Fans from The Hermitage”, visitors to the Greenwich based museum have been treated to exhibitions of great depth and artistic merit.

16/10/2026

Does this magnificent ‘Mouchoir’ remind you of anything? ’Mouchoir’ is French for handkerchief, and this dramatic square paper fan has been designed to look just like a piece of fabric being pulled out of a pocket!

The leaf has an antique, creased, gold paper border, and features a print of four flamboyantly dressed figures, surrounded by the name 'Café-Théâtre La Charrette’. This refers to one of the oldest café-theatres in France, the real life Café-Théâtre La Charrette in Romans-sur-Isère. The fan commemorates its founder Christian-Vinson, and was created by contemporary French fan-maker Frédérick Ivan Manuel Gay, the subject of our new exhibition.

15/10/2026

On the crisp winter evenings of mid-December, we will be welcoming visitors to view the museum by the warm glow of candlelight.

🎄From 16:30 to 19:00 on 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th December 2026.

🍷Enjoy a complimentary drink of mulled w**e, c***r, or juice in the Orangery.

🕯View the permanent collection and current exhibition 'Swaying in the Wind - Frédérick Yvan Manuel Gay: A Contemporary French Fan Maker.'

🔔 Listen out for some classical festive favourites!

🎟 Tickets are £10 and must be booked in advance. They are available now via the link in our bio or at https://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/events/museum-by-candlelight

13/10/2026

Enjoy an afternoon of embroidery in our beautiful Orangery! Learn a variety of stitches and tips, and take home a masterpiece of your own design.

🧵 Saturday 24th October 13:00-15:30

🌷This event has a limited capacity of only 10 places, and tickets are £30.

🪡 Book via the link in our bio or at www.thefanmuseum.org.uk

09/10/2026

I spy a double entente! In Old French, the word 'entente' derives from entendre, meaning 'to hear' or 'to understand.' Another interpretation hides in these pleats.

Frederick Yvan Manuel Gay is one of the few contemporary fan makers to successfully master the 'Double Entente' technique, which can be dated back to sixteenth century Japan.

This fan was commissioned to celebrate a wedding in Algeria, and so the obverse depicts a scene of Algerian architecture while the alternative reading reveals a beautiful monochromatic portrait of the bride.

01/10/2026

Cost of living crisis? Not if you were Princess Stephanie of Belgium, daughter of King Leopold II. In 1881 she received this fan as a marriage gift, with real rose diamonds making up the crown and monogram ’S’. Not to be outdone, the guardsticks are encased in gold and decorated with silver,
while the intricately carved sticks are made from opulent ‘goldfish’ mother-of-pearl.

There is no less luxury in the painting, signed by Italian artist Cesare dell’Aqua. In the centre, lsabella Clara Eugenia of Hapsburg receives a fan from her court painter, Peter Paul Rubens, while the jeweller Paulus van Vianen of Utrecht, offers her gold and silver plate…

29/09/2026

Be one of the first to see our new exhibition of over 100 fans, on display in London for the first time, on Tuesday 6th October. 📸 Fabien Perrot

25/09/2026

It’s behind you!

This unassuming 1884 fan really comes to life when you turn it around. Titled Tête à Tête, the main leaf is a quiet country scene, with two women deep in conversation on a bench. They wear Trieste national costume, a reference
to the birthplace of the fan’s owner, Princesse Mathilde Bonaparte. But turn the fan around for some drama! Suddenly you’ll see striking black taffeta painted in gold, with not just a crowned ‘M’ for Mathilde, but also two griffons - legendary beasts with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

Which side do you prefer?!

24/09/2026

We are sure that you recognise this iconic skyline, but do you recognise the imagery in this artwork? If you do, you have uncovered a clue about our upcoming exhibition...

Which contemporary fan maker will be on their way to London this autumn?

23/09/2026

An exciting few days of installation means that The Fan Museum will be CLOSED on Tuesday 29th September.

From Wednesday 30th September until Saturday 3rd October, the downstairs Yellow and Green Rooms (which house the permanent collection) will be open with FREE admission.

The following week we will be back open with around 100 new fans in our upstairs exhibition space, so stay tuned!

18/09/2026

How to leave a ball before the clock strikes midnight? Simply take a fan with a built in watch!

This English fan includes a timepiece on the head - where the sticks pivot - and is believed to have been made by the Huguenot John Thierry, who was active in London around 1760. How appropriate that this particular fan is on display in The Fan Museum, Greenwich - home of time!

The fan belonged to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the mother of Queen Victoria. The painting on the leaf shows a hero
kneeling before a princess, in front of a sculpture of Cupid.

Address

12 Crooms Hill
London
SE108ER

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 1pm
	2pm - 5pm
Wednesday	11am - 1pm
	2pm - 5pm
Thursday	11am - 1pm
	2pm - 5pm
Friday	11am - 1pm
	2pm - 5pm
Saturday	11am - 1pm
	2pm - 5pm

Telephone

+44 (0) 20 8305 1441

Website

http://www.thefanmuseum.org.uk/

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