19th Century Hand Painted Dressing Screens
Antique Mid-19th Century Portuguese Other Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paint, Fabric
Early 20th Century Unknown Louis XV Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood, Paint
Antique Mid-19th Century English Aesthetic Movement Screens and Room Div...
Mahogany, Glass, Canvas
Antique 19th Century French Decorative Art
Wood
Recent Sales
Early 20th Century French Belle Époque Screens and Room Dividers
Gesso, Canvas, Wood, Paint
Antique 19th Century Italian Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
Antique 1890s Italian Neoclassical Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood, Silk
Antique 19th Century French Victorian Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas
Antique 19th Century Chinese Screens and Room Dividers
Stone
Antique 19th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Linen
20th Century Chinese Qing Paintings and Screens
Brass
Antique 19th Century Italian Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Neoclassical Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Antique 19th Century English Neoclassical Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Antique 19th Century English Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
Antique 1820s American American Classical Serving Tables
Mahogany
Antique 19th Century Screens and Room Dividers
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1960s French Louis XIII Screens and Room Dividers
Glass
2010s British Louis XVI Sofas
Giltwood
Antique Late 19th Century European Moorish Architectural Elements
Wrought Iron
Antique Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mir...
Copper
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Giltwood
Antique 19th Century European Victorian Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood
Early 20th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Panelling
Marble
Antique 1750s French Architectural Elements
Oak
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Musical Instruments
Wood, Giltwood
Early 20th Century English Charles II Settees
Tapestry, Velvet
Mid-20th Century English Renaissance Beds and Bed Frames
Oak
Antique 17th Century Dutch Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry
Antique Mid-19th Century English High Victorian Taxidermy
Other
Antique Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Silk, Wood, Paint
Antique Late 19th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Giltwood
19th Century Hand Painted Dressing Screens For Sale on 1stDibs
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.
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