Screens and Room Dividers
Late 19th Century English French Provincial Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Glass, Wood, Paint
19th Century Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
19th Century French Renaissance Revival Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Glass, Wood
1890s Italian Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Steel, Iron
Late 19th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Giltwood
Early 19th Century European Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1870s English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Glass, Wood
1910s Japanese Meiji Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paper
1840s Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 19th Century Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Paper, Wood
19th Century Italian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
Mid-19th Century French Chinoiserie Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Hardwood
19th Century Chinese Ming Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
1870s English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Walnut
Late 19th Century French Egyptian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Upholstery, Wood, Paint
19th Century European Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paint, Fabric
19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mother-of-Pearl, Wood, Lacquer
1850s French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Upholstery
19th Century Chinese Ming Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1820s French Louis Philippe Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass, Wire
1860s English Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany
1870s American American Empire Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Paint
Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Coral, Jade
1890s French International Style Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas
19th Century French Empire Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze
19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mid-19th Century English Sheraton Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany
1830s French Louis Philippe Antique Screens and Room Dividers
1890s French International Style Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas
19th Century French Romantic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Mid-19th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Rosewood
Late 19th Century English Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Walnut
19th Century Rustic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Animal Skin, Walnut
Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Elm
19th Century Dutch Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Early 19th Century Italian Empire Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze, Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Japonisme Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Giltwood
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1840s French Louis Philippe Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass, Wire
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze
Late 19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
19th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Oak
Mid-19th Century French Beaux Arts Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century British Chinese Chippendale Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Teak
Early 1800s American Federal Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany, Maple
19th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany, Bone, Satinwood
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
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.