Fan Museum

Admire a varied collection of decorative, functional and ceremonial fans from around the world and across the centuries at this wonderful Greenwich museum.

Set inside two lovingly restored Georgian townhouses, this magical museum’s collection of over 5,000 fans is as delightful and elegant as the buildings in which it is displayed. Founder Hélène Alexander has dedicated her life to collecting fans and has created an intimate and homely space in which to view the collection, thanks to a sensitive restoration of the 1721 buildings and the addition of a tea room overlooking the peaceful Japanese garden.

Highlights of the collection include an extensive range of European fans from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a fan that’s nearly a thousand years old. There are paper fans, lace fans, ivory fans, Chinese fans, fans decorated with mythological beasts, fans designed by artists including Salvador Dali, George Barbier and Sylvain Le Guen, even a fan with a built-in ear trumpet! Learn about their various uses through the ages: fans as fashion accessories, fans for advertising products, fans for keeping cool and fans as an art form.

Whether you’re the world’s biggest fan of fans, or have the merest flutter of interest, you’re sure to find plenty to admire and enjoy here.