Ronde joyeuse des fagotiers

[France], 1786. Hand-colored etched folding paper fan, printed on the recto of two joined sheets, backed in plain paper, mounted on 15 (later?) plain wooden sticks, the open leaf measuring approx. 112 x 460 mm., total fan height 260 mm. The etching shows two couples (and a small dog, and table with wine carafe and glass) flanking a female figure in white Grecian robes and a green wreath, holding in one hand a heart at her breast, and with the other hand ceremoniously setting alight a bundle of wood (a fagot) on a small pedestal or altar, above which is the wreathed inscription Institution des fagotiers a auteuil le 2 avril 1786 / On prete serment sur un fagot de pratiquer toute sa vie cinq vertus [:] cordial franchise amitié générosité obeisance [sic] et tendresse; at top a star with the initials T L A and a banner lettered Vertus des fagotiers, surmounted by the caption Ronde joyeuse des fagotiers/ Air: c’est la petite Theresse [sic]; on either side of this scene are four verses within two green-outlined oval cartouches, within stenciled blue and yellow decorative border. Some wear and slight splitting along a few folds, a couple of small tears at mounts.***

A mildly licentious pre-Revolutionary printed fan, possibly commemorating a real event, a “festival of the wood-gatherers” (fagotiers), held in Auteuil on April 2, 1786, but of which there appears to be no historical record. Rather than a guild, the fagotiers may have been a local association or club.

The symbolism of the image and verses seems to be along the lines of Carpe diem, carnally, for death is around the corner — heavy sentiments for a feather-light fan. One of the men is gesturing toward his partner’s crotch, and the verses on either side of the central scene are dotted with sexual innuendo. The first stanza, “Let us sing of the burning fagot [a bundle of small wood], lit by friendship / he who backs away from it knows her [i.e., friendship] only half-way / without her life is nothing / with her one is deified,” could be understood as innocuous, but the second stanza celebrates the joys of Déduit, an archaic term for the pleasures of love, or coïtus. Stanza three brings in Death, in the form of Charon: “amiable fellow, let us sing his good humor, his boat may lead to the devil but his spirit leads to happiness / with his worthy ardor the fire burns in our hearts.” The last stanza declares that the “august fagotine law” allows us to include women, we need not hide, everyone kiss your partner, etc.

I locate one other example of this fan, held by the Musée Carnavelet in Paris. It is digitized on their website, with the description “The Genie of Friendship lights the pyre on which the couples will take the oath of friendship.” The stenciled border of our copy differs from that of the Carnavelet example, which is in pink; here it is in two colors and includes two birds perched on branches.