This fan of silk gauze on wooden sticks and guards, painted in tempera colours and gold and silver, is probably the work of a court painter attached to the royal palace in Mandalay, where the fan is said to have been found in 1885, after the annexation of Upper Burma and the exile of the last king of Burma, King Thibaw.

The fan depicts the last King of Burma, Thibaw Min, with his principal consort, Queen Supayalat, attended by courtiers and ladies, dressed in the court costumes of the period, witnessing an outdoor play (known as a zat-pwe) performed by actors and musicians in the Royal Gardens of the Palace at Mandalay.