Egbert Clark
Mid-20th Century American Folk Art Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary American American Classical Beds and Bed F...
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Metal
2010s Austrian Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood
20th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Screens and Room Dividers
Teak
Vintage 1950s Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Settees
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé, Oak
Antique Late 19th Century English Screens and Room Dividers
Upholstery, Glass, Wood, Paint, Damask, Paper, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Chairs
Canvas
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Screens and Room Dividers
Elm, Paint
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
Vintage 1960s Italian Hollywood Regency Dry Bars
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Antique Mid-19th Century Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
Vintage 1950s Uzbek Screens and Room Dividers
Cotton, Silk, Wood
Finding the Right screens-room-dividers for You
Whether they are implemented as decorative accents or makeshift partitions to ensure privacy, antique and vintage folding screens and room dividers easily introduce sophistication and depth to any space in your home.
The earliest examples of folding screens are said to have originated in China and go back at least as far as the Han dynasty. Screens of the era were heavy structures made of wood and had hinges of cloth or leather. They were adorned with elaborate landscape paintings that were typically created on silk or paper canvases and applied directly to the screen’s panels afterward. Just as they had been in the 20th century and today, the folding screens then were recognized for both their practical and purely decorative properties.
Japanese room-divider screens were also decorated with paintings but constructed to be lightweight and mobile. They took on considerable event-based importance when the structures gained popularity in the East Asian country, as the folding screens were used in performing arts such as concerts, tea ceremonies and more. Later, artists elsewhere warmed to folding screens and sought to create their own.
In European countries such as France, where they were known as paravent, folding screens began to materialize in apartments in Paris, gaining favor with the likes of pioneering couturier Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who is said to have accrued more than 30 and used them as a precursor to what we now know as wallpaper.
On 1stDibs, find a wide range of antique and vintage folding screens and room dividers, which, given their history, may do a better job of bringing people and cultures together in your home than sectioning off a space. Search by material to find options in metal, fabric or wood, or browse by style for mid-century modern designs and examples from the Art Deco era.