Screens and Room Dividers
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
Early 20th Century European Chinoiserie Screens and Room Dividers
Paint, Canvas, Wood
20th Century American Neoclassical Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
1930s Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 2000s American Screens and Room Dividers
Other
1950s Finnish Organic Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century French Grand Tour Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
19th Century Italian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas
19th Century Japanese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
1970s Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Suede
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Glass, Wood
20th Century American Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Arts and Crafts Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
19th Century Japanese Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
Mid-20th Century Organic Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan, Wood
1950s American Other Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 19th Century Chinese Ming Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood, Paint
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Fiberglass
2010s American Screens and Room Dividers
Silver, Other
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Beech
1950s Brutalist Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Soapstone
Early 2000s American Screens and Room Dividers
Straw
2010s Mexican Post-Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
2010s Mexican Post-Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
1950s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood, Paper
20th Century Screens and Room Dividers
Brass, Bronze
1980s Unknown Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Early 19th Century English Regency Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
19th Century English Arts and Crafts Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
1940s Chinese Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Bamboo, Silk
Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Paint
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror
2010s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Mahogany
20th Century Chinese Screens and Room Dividers
Mother-of-Pearl, Hardwood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas
Mid-20th Century Japanese Anglo-Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
2010s French Screens and Room Dividers
Metal, Stainless Steel
20th Century Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century French Rococo Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Giltwood
Late 19th Century Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Bog Wood
1970s European Organic Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Steel, Cut Steel
1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Aluminum
1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Giltwood
1970s European Organic Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Cut Steel
Late 19th Century English Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Glass, Boxwood, Ebony, Mahogany, Satinwood, Walnut, Wood
Early 20th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror
Mid-20th Century Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Silver Leaf
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Beech
1970s American Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Metal, Enamel, Steel
18th Century French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Teak
Mid-20th Century Chinoiserie Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Hardwood, Paper
2010s Indian Art Deco Screens and Room Dividers
Bone, Resin, Wood
1960s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood
20th Century Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
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.