What is a pole screen used for?

It shields a seated face from the heat and light of an open fire. The panel slides up and down an upright pole set into a tripod or platform base, so the height can be set to whoever is sitting there. Listings on Sellingantiques run heavily to mahogany and rosewood, with embroidered or needlepointed panels. Pole screens are the form most often offered as a pair.

How many leaves do folding screens usually have?

Four and three are the counts that appear most often in titles, with four ahead. The full spread runs from two-fold dwarf draught screens up to eight-fold Chinese lacquer. Nearly half of everything in the category is described by its number of folds, so the leaf count is often the first thing in the title.

Are Chinese and Japanese screens common in this category?

They are a steady branch, around one in eight of the archive and a larger share of what's currently listed. Chinese titles outnumber Japanese, and lacquer runs through both. The forms include coromandel eight-fold screens, byobu, silk-panelled folds and small Shibayama table screens. Chinoiserie is a separate thing: European decoration in the Chinese taste, not work made in China.

What is a scrapwork screen?

A folding screen with panels covered in pasted printed scraps and then varnished. Decoupage is the other word dealers use for it. It's an English speciality in this archive, sometimes double-sided or reversible so both faces are decorated. These sit toward the lower end of the range.

Why do some listings under this heading not look like screens?

The heading takes in panel-form pieces alongside domestic screens. Carved panels, rood-screen fragments, shutters, wrought-iron architectural panels and lifesize dummy boards all appear. They're a visible minority. Folding screens and pole screens make up the bulk of what turns up.

How old are most antique screens on the market?

The dated field spans 1750 to 1950. Decade clusters run from the 1880s through the 1930s, and Edwardian is a common label. Nearly half the dated entries rest on period words rather than years, with "19th Century" the single largest group. Eighteenth-century and earlier pieces exist, including Edo-period byobu and two dated before 1700, but they're scarce.

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Antique Screens

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Screens were the furniture of a draughty, fire-lit house: a hinged folding frame to block a draught or divide a room, or a small panel on a pole to keep the hearth off a seated face.