Antique and vintage decorative wooden fire screens

Firesceeens take various forms, with their purpose being to shield occupants of a room from the heat of the flames of a fire. They were in use from the Middle Ages until the demise of the open fire as the main form of heating during the 20th century. For protective purposes the most effective type of firescreen is made from metal such as brass with decorative grille, which follows the outline of the hearth. However these are a 20th century inventions, and prior to this firescreen were largely made from wood.

Another type of firescreen is the polescreen, which consists of a frame on a pole, with a tripod base. The frames were usually heavily carved and often enclosed a tapestry or beaded panel. The height of the screen could be adjusted to suit the user by sliding the screen up or down the pole to protect the face.

A more... framed screen on legs that approximated the site of the fireplace is another type of firescreen. This type of screen was usually placed in front of the fireplace when it was not in use, to hide the untidyness of the hearth. The frames of these screens were often gilded or heavily carved and polished and the frame may contain a painted panel or tapestry. A variant of this type of screen had sliding panels to each side that extended the width of the screen.

The flat brass firescreens, pressed with embossed pictures of ships, dogs and Queen Elizabeth I, are a 20th century innovation, dating from the 1920s and 1930s. less...