Robert Manwaring Robert Manwaring Robert Manwaring was an English 18th century furniture designer and cabinet maker. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. He was a contemporary and imitator of Thomas Chippendale, and not the least considerable of his rivals. He prided himself upon work which he described as "genteel", and his speciality was chairs. He manifests the same surprising variations of quality that are noticed in the work of nearly all the English cabinet-makers of the second half of the 18th century, and while his best had an undeniable elegance, his worst was exceedingly bad: squat, ill-proportioned and confusing.
European hand fans in the 18th century century. During this time the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers tried to grow the English fan trade, but their success was small in comparison to the French industry. There were two main types of fans seen in Europe during the 18th century: the rigid (or fixed) fan and the folding fan. As its name implies, the rigid fan is stiff. Possible fan shapes are a leaf, a rectangle, or an oval. The fan is attached to a base where it is held. The folding fan was the most popular in Europe during the 18th century, a time known as the