Black Room Divider Ludvik Volak
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Plywood, Lacquer
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21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Velvet, Walnut
2010s Italian Wardrobes and Armoires
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Travertine
2010s Guatemalan Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Resin, Plastic, Walnut
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Roo...
Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Plywood
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Divi...
Resin, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room...
Stoneware
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Metal, Bronze
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Oak, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Plywood, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Oak, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Oak, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Oak, Lacquer
Vintage 1970s Czech Mid-Century Modern Shelves
Oak, Bentwood, Plywood
Finding the Right screens-room-dividers for You
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.