The FanMuseum

Founded in 1991 by Hélène Alexander MBE and her late husband Richard 'Dickie' A. V. Alexander OBE, The Fan Museum occupies two restored Grade II listed early Georgian townhouses opposite Greenwich Park. It is the only UK museum devoted entirely to the history and craft of hand fans, its collection built from Alexander's own private holdings and spanning more than a thousand years, from ivory and tortoiseshell examples to painted silk and lace. Displays rotate alongside temporary exhibitions on fan-making technique and social history. A ground-floor orangery serves tea overlooking a Japanese-style garden. The museum operates as a single independent charitable trust with no second branch, run today by trustees continuing the Alexanders' original curatorial approach, and remains a reference point for collectors and conservators internationally.