Screens and Room Dividers
Early 1900s Chinese Chinese Export Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 1900s German Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
Early 20th Century Japanese Taisho Screens and Room Dividers
Textile, Wood, Lacquer
1880s French Japonisme Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood, Walnut
1890s French Louis XVI Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wool, Giltwood
1910s Edwardian Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Satinwood
Late 19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Canvas, Wood
19th Century American Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Canvas, Wood
1910s Danish Art Nouveau Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Oak
Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 20th Century European Gothic Revival Screens and Room Dividers
Metal, Wrought Iron
Mid-19th Century African Moorish Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bone, Wood
19th Century Italian Other Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Poplar
1880s American Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
Mid-19th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Elm, Paint
Early 20th Century French Louis XVI Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1860s Italian Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Paint
19th Century European Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood
1920s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer
Early 20th Century Victorian Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Mahogany
Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fir
Early 20th Century Indian Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Glass
19th Century Rococo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 20th Century Anglo-Indian Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Mid-19th Century English William IV Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany
19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century French Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bamboo, Giltwood, Lacquer
Early 1900s English Edwardian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Glass, Wood, Fabric
1890s Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Bamboo
19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 1900s German Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Pine
Early 20th Century French Belle Époque Screens and Room Dividers
Gesso, Canvas, Wood, Paint
1890s Belgian Romantic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
19th Century Spanish Renaissance Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood
19th Century Italian Rococo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Canvas, Paint
19th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood, Paint
19th Century European Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Faux Leather
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Lacquer
Early 20th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Screens and Room Dividers
Softwood
19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Porcelain
Early 20th Century European Chinoiserie Screens and Room Dividers
Paint, Canvas, Wood
19th Century Belgian Biedermeier Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Glass, Wood
1880s Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Beech
Early 20th Century Moroccan Moorish Screens and Room Dividers
Bone, Mother-of-Pearl, Ebony, Mahogany
Late 19th Century English Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 20th Century Czech Art Nouveau Screens and Room Dividers
Burlap, Wood, Canvas
19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
1920s English Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Chrome
Early 20th Century French French Provincial Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
1880s Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 20th Century English Baroque Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Early 19th Century English Regency Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Early 19th Century English Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Rosewood
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.