Italian Folding Screens

There is a range of Italian folding screens for sale on 1stDibs. Each of these unique Italian folding screens was constructed with extraordinary care, often using wood, metal and fabric. There are 107 antique and vintage Italian folding screens for sale at 1stDibs, while we also have 18 modern editions to choose from as well. Italian folding screens have been produced for many years, with earlier versions available from the 18th Century and newer variations made as recently as the 21st Century. There are many kinds of Italian folding screens to choose from, but at 1stDibs, Mid-Century Modern, Neoclassical and Modern Italian folding screens are of considerable interest. Italian folding screens have been a part of the life’s work for many furniture makers, but those produced by Fornasetti, Lorenz+Kaz and Piero Fornasetti are consistently popular.

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.