Fire Screen

c. 1878–80

Fire Screen, c. 1878–80. Firm of Herter Brothers (American). Gilded wood, painted and gilded wood panels, brocaded silk, embossed paper; overall: 131.8 x 76.2 x 58.3 cm (51 7/8 x 30 x 22 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1997.58 During the 1870s the New York firm of Herter Brothers produced some of the most sophisticated and technically refined furniture made anywhere in the world at that date. Although the firm is known to have made a considerable quantity of gilded furniture, this fire screen is one of only a few examples to survive in good condition. The painted and gilded embossed panel of birds and flowers was likely made in Japan. Produced by the New York decorating firm Herter Brothers, this screen would have been used to shield sitters from the heat of a fireplace.