The Rebus

1790 England, Music and Riddles ( rebus fan):
Length cm 24
Spread cm 46
Sticks 20 plus 2

Fretted wood sticks that present some cut. Double page in printed and acquerello paper. The subject of the page is a trompe-l’oeil that represents messages, rose leaves and piano scores. The center of the page is dominated by a blue ribbon with the sentence “un bouquet fantasque” and fastens a bunch of aspidistra leaves on which we can read strange words. The same theme of the page is singular. The scattered papers have different kinds of enigma: riddles, charades and written rimes in French and English that witness the growing interest for the enigmatography. This kind of hobby, appeared on the first male journals of the half of the XVIII century, it must have become a typical aristocratic hobby between the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of the successive one. On the inferior board of the page, for example, there’s this riddle:  je suis ce que je fuis, mais je ne suis pas ce que je suis. Si j' etois ce que je suie, je ne serois pas ce qui je suis it’s interesting to notice that the dating  of this fan can be suggested by a very famous charade :  My first I hope you are, my second I see you are, my third I'm sure you are. This riddle  present in one of the cartouche, was published for the first time in a book for enigmatography lovers dated 1806.  M. Alessandra Chessa, op. cit. pag. 65. A very similar fan is published on page 55 of the volume of di P. van Saanen and P.Greenhalgh, this one differs for the sticks e for the acquerello not present in the other; the editor name and the date April 1791 is absent or not visible because it’s covered by color.