Karl Springer Six Panel Coromandel Screen
Vintage 1970s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and...
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Paintings and Screens
Metal, Brass
Vintage 1970s American Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paint
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
Rosewood
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
Aluminum, Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Wood
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Paintings and Screens
Brass
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Paintings and Screens
Brass, Silver Leaf
2010s North American Screens and Room Dividers
Abalone, Wood
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Vintage 1980s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Lacquer
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze, Gold Leaf, Silver Leaf
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.