The fire screen was introduced during the Rococo period. The London cabinetmaker Thomas Sheraton explained its use as “to shelter the face or legs from the fire,” to retain heat and block drafts. His contemporary George Hepplewhite recommended that “screens may be ornamented variously, with maps, Chinese figures, needle-work, etc.,” the latter providing a highly visible display for the lady of the household’s stitchery. The Philadelphia cabinetmaker’s price lists specify a fire screen similar to this example, with claw feet, “Leaves on the knees,” and “fluting the Pillars” for exactly the same charge as a folding stand with carved feet, leaves, and a plain top.

Technical notes: Mahogany (base), walnut (pole). The legs are dovetailed into the column and secured  with a Y-shaped iron. The pole and frame are replacements. The needlework probably dates from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

Related examples: Antiques 83 (February 1963), inside front cover.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.