Screens and Room Dividers
1940s Argentine Neoclassical Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Minimalist Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Guatemalan Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Mahogany
2010s American Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1930s American Neoclassical Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1940s Chinese Hollywood Regency Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
2010s Central American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Cypress
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Resin, Plastic, Walnut
2010s Central American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Cypress
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
2010s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Oak, Wood, Hardwood
1940s French Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 20th Century Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paint
Late 20th Century French Post-Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer, Mirror
1940s French Louis XVI Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Paper, Wood
1940s Argentine Neoclassical Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Mid-20th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Antique and Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
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.