December, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



437 



Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 



Back of the K'ang-Hsi Period screen, showing the artistic effect of the long inscription in Chinese characters 



paper or textiles fastened to a frame, some with several 

 leaves or panels, others with only one. Fire screens of later 

 date, however, usually had a single leaf and in the Georgian 

 periods often took the form of an oval, oblong or shield 

 shaped frame, covered with embroidered material and fixed 

 to an upright wooden pole 

 upon which it could be 

 raised or lowered. This 

 variety, an example of which 

 is illustrated, was called a 

 pole-screen and was more ef- 

 fective as an ornament than 

 as a means of protection 

 from the heat of the fire. 



Many fine examples of 

 embroidered floral designs 

 on a silk background are pre- 

 served as well as in needle- 

 work such as that of Ameri- 

 can needlework made about 

 1780, shown in the illustra- 

 tion which consists of a con- 

 ventional design done in 

 wood colored worsted on a 

 blue ground and is mounted 

 on the back with diamond 

 shaped quilting of blue vel- 

 vet and oak colored silk. 

 The frame is mahogany, 

 simple in design and of the 

 period. 



Many beautiful examples 

 of the shield or oval shaped 

 pole-screen are of satinwood 

 and mounted in delicately 

 colored silk, embroidered, 

 or are of painted wood 

 with Adam decorations and 

 covered on the back with a 

 plain, colored silk carefully 

 drawn into pleats. 



The embroidered and 

 needlework screens were 

 contemporary with sampler 



work, but became the more ambitious medium of the needle- 

 woman rather than the elementary work of the child. An 

 interesting and unique example of home production is the 

 eighteenth century, English six-leaved screen, illustrated, 

 eight feet high, which consists of a buff colored paper back- 

 ground, a grey wall-paper 

 border with Wedgwood 

 medallions and the centre 

 decoration of six colored 

 prints from "Punch" pasted 

 on each panel. 



This same idea could 

 readily be carried out today 

 at reasonable cost by treat- 

 ing an ordinary Japanese 

 screen with a solid back- 

 ground of wall-paper and 

 introducing either inex- 

 pensive reproductions of 

 English or French prints as 

 the decoration according to 

 one's individual preference. 

 This would lend itself at- 

 tractively to a young girl's 

 room in a country house 

 when the hangings consist of 

 chintz. 



The room of French 

 period decoration is particu- 

 larly adapted to the use of 

 the one panel screen which 

 can be found in a great vari- 

 ety of appropriate designs. 

 The rare example illus- 

 trated, a Louis XV four- 

 leaf screen, twenty inches 

 high, was used to protect the 

 feet from draught when 

 placed before a library writ- 

 ing table. This has a plain 

 rosewood frame, mounted 

 in a plain greenish grey silk 

 on which are applique'd fig- 

 Louis XIV tapestry screen ures of men and women 



