Screens and Room Dividers
1820s English Regency Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Silk, Lacquer
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer
Early 20th Century Unknown Victorian Screens and Room Dividers
Tapestry, Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Chinese Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Late 20th Century French Screens and Room Dividers
Silver Leaf
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Steel
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
1960s Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Ash
1970s French Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Teak
1940s American Chinoiserie Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Silver Leaf
Late 20th Century Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror
1950s Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Aluminum
18th Century Italian Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Textile, Cotton, Paper
1970s Hollywood Regency Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
Early 1900s Thai Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
2010s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Metallic Thread
20th Century American Bohemian Screens and Room Dividers
Bamboo, Wood
Early 20th Century English Edwardian Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
Late 19th Century French Late Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Giltwood
Late 19th Century Victorian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1960s Japanese Chinoiserie Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
2010s Ukrainian Art Deco Screens and Room Dividers
Straw, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Plywood
20th Century European Classical Roman Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
18th Century Dutch Dutch Colonial Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather, Wood, Paint
1990s Philippine Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Hardwood
20th Century Japanese Screens and Room Dividers
20th Century French Louis XVI Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror
1980s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Iron
1940s American Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
19th Century Unknown Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Leather
20th Century American Screens and Room Dividers
Metal
2010s Ukrainian Art Deco Screens and Room Dividers
Straw, Wood
19th Century Indian Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
20th Century French Louis XVI Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Wood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Mirror, Giltwood
1980s Italian Neoclassical Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1980s Hong Kong Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Lacquer
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Iron, Wrought Iron
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
1960s Brazilian Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Jacaranda
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Rattan
2010s American Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Onyx, Steel
1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Cotton, Wood
1910s French Art Nouveau Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Beech
18th Century European Baroque Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1960s American Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1880s French Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Bronze
Early 19th Century Empire Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
Mid-20th Century Hollywood Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Tin
1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Fabric, Oak
Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
1950s Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Late 20th Century American Regency Screens and Room Dividers
Hardwood
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.