Screens and Room Dividers
Late 19th Century English Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany, Satinwood
1890s English Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Mid-19th Century American Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Rosewood
Early 1900s English Neoclassical Revival Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Glass, Beech, Giltwood
1880s Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century French Napoleon III Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Giltwood
Early 1900s German Folk Art Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century Japanese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
19th Century French Provincial Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1810s French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Mahogany
Early 19th Century English Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Rosewood
19th Century French Rococo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Late 19th Century French Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Giltwood
19th Century Belgian Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood, Walnut
Early 19th Century British Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century French Chinoiserie Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Silk, Wood, Giltwood
Late 19th Century Chinese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Soapstone
19th Century Gothic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
1880s Arts and Crafts Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Copper
1820s English Regency Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Lacquer
Early 1900s Thai Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Walnut
19th Century Indian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 19th Century Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 19th Century Empire Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
1860s Italian Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Paint
19th Century Japanese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Early 19th Century French Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century Unknown Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
1880s French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze
1880s American Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Gold Leaf
Early 1900s Chinese Chinese Export Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood
19th Century British Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paper
Early 1900s German Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Canvas, Wood
19th Century American Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Canvas, Wood
1890s French Louis XVI Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wool, Giltwood
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1880s French Japonisme Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood, Walnut
19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
19th Century European Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood
Mid-19th Century African Moorish Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bone, Wood
19th Century Italian Other Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Poplar
19th Century Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 1900s German Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Pine
Early 1900s Gothic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Early 1800s Japanese Edo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Fir
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Upholstery, Walnut
Late 19th Century French Aesthetic Movement Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Paint
19th Century Rococo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1890s Belgian Romantic Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Glass
1890s Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
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.