Screen - the most unusual piece of furniture exotic. The duality of its functions, decorative effects and the possibility of elegant spatial games

Passing the gallery

Leading headings: Elena Prytula

Magazine: (53)

Perhaps, the screen turned out to be the most unusual piece of furniture exotics brought to Europe in the XVII-XVIII centuries. In the duality of its function - hiding something behind the doors, at least partially to disclose it - the Europeans immediately saw not only decorative effects, but also opportunities for very elegant spatial games. Therefore, it is not surprising that with particular ease the screens fit into the interiors of those epochs, when refinement of style was highly appreciated. As for the modern design, prone to intellectual and artistic delights, his addiction to a variety of "folding screens", I think, speaks for itself The fashion for "all oriental" had to make the curios brought to the West with designer stamps long ago. Surprisingly, this did not happen: the oriental ability to transform everyday life into art, and even into a kind of ritual, always created a special aura around these objects. Screens in this sense were also no exception. Today, many fall under the spell of their Orientalist romance: connoisseurs of oriental culture and people very distant from it, decorators and aristocrats, artists and collectors. But the main thing is that in the oriental screen the use and beauty are organically combined. A space organized with a screen can be designed for a variety of purposes. Indeed, this exotic piece of furniture for many years occupies an honorable place in boudoirs, bedrooms and small living rooms. But the real reason for the love of screens is the atmosphere of seclusion and solitude created by them. Therefore, most often behind the doors are guessed corners for reading, conversation or sleep, sometimes (as a rule, in modern interiors) - the dining area. Of course, this is an ideal place for rest and communication of the elect - a narrow circle of relatives and friends. The materials from which the screens are made are striking in their diversity: the wooden or metal frame can be covered with fabric, paper, leather or filled with glass. By the way, the first folding screens brought to Europe from China among quite traditional pieces of furniture - tables, chairs, chests - were made of lacquered wood. Wood panels could be covered with Chinese painted wall paper. As a rule, richly decorated panels were assembled in three- or five-part screens, although sometimes there were more sashes. Japanese silk screens appeared in Europe somewhat later, in the middle of the 19th century, when, after more than two hundred years of isolation, Japan opened up for foreign travelers. The decor of the screen and the plots of its design have always obeyed the general style of the interior. And if in the 18th century, wooden screens inlaid with colored stones or silk, in the spirit of chinoiserie, were exhibited in rooms entirely decorated in Chinese style, then at the end of the 19th century there were already screens with scenes from everyday Parisian life, made in the style of Japanese graphics , and at the beginning of the 20th century avant-garde cubistic compositions appeared on the wings. However, in modern interiors it is quite possible to meet old Japanese items (which, however, few have survived), with traditional motifs of pagodas, tigers and dragons - wood carving and silk painting have not lost their timeless beauty and relevance. Finally, the screen necessarily gives the interior a hint of theatricality: behind its doors, like a theater curtain, a performance is played out from everyday life, which has its own philosophy and poetry. You just need to listen to your own feelings, and they will open to you ...