Screens and Room Dividers
Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
21st Century and Contemporary French Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Arts and Crafts Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Brocade, Silk, Velvet
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
1970s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Bamboo
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Italian Screens and Room Dividers
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Textile
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Sycamore
Early 20th Century Austrian Screens and Room Dividers
Bentwood
2010s Canadian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Late 20th Century English Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Glass
18th Century American Queen Anne Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk
1970s American Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany, Glass
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Screens and Room Dividers
Copper
Early 19th Century English Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Rosewood
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
20th Century Chinoiserie Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
1960s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
1950s French Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
20th Century Industrial Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Early 2000s French Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
1970s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Parchment Paper
Mid-20th Century Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Beech
1890s Indian Anglo-Indian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Teak
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1920s Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Birch, Plywood
Late 19th Century European Antique Screens and Room Dividers
1940s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
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.