Pair of Pole Screens
1785-1800 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Pole screens were highly popular in the 18th-century. They were designed to protect women's faces from the heat of the fire. Most were made with panels of needlework, often made by amateurs and set into frames made by professional cabinet makers. In the middle of the 18th century they often carried larger panels but by the end of the century the panels were generally oval or shield-shaped, reflecting the shapes that were popular for chair backs.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | painted beech |
| Brief description | Pair of pole screens, in ebonized wood, the shield-shaped panels containing embroidered pictures on silk, showing a woman and child in a rural setting. |
| Physical description | Pair of pole screens, in ebonized wood, the shield-shaped panels containing embroidered pictures on silk, each showing a woman and a child in a rural setting. Wood painted black with decoration in colour. Shield-draped frame glazed containing an embroidered picture of a woman and child in a rustic landscape. The pole surmounted by an urn-shaped finial. Tripod supported with scrolled feet. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Mrs Sigismund Goetze |
| Object history | This screen was on long loan to Kew Palace from 1989-2014. See Registered File 78/431 |
| Summary | Pole screens were highly popular in the 18th-century. They were designed to protect women's faces from the heat of the fire. Most were made with panels of needlework, often made by amateurs and set into frames made by professional cabinet makers. In the middle of the 18th century they often carried larger panels but by the end of the century the panels were generally oval or shield-shaped, reflecting the shapes that were popular for chair backs. |
| Bibliographic reference | Tomlin, Maurice, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture (London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972), cat. no. V/2, p. 185. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.15&A-1951 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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