Images(3)

Fire screen

Date1775-1800

OriginEngland (probably)

MediumMahogany, Brass, Copper

DimensionsOH: 40 1/2" OW:(base) 21 7/8" OD(base): 18 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1939-246

DescriptionHorse fire screen with serpentine top; brass strip attached to top of needlework frame (covered in fabric) following contours of top; needlework frame set into slot in center section of mahogany top; single, copper-headed screw in center of strip, with several modern screws at either side; straight stiles; bottom of mahogany frame arched upward; incised lines run around inner and outer edges of frame on both front and back; pair of curvilinear, trestle feet, one pair connected to each stile. Frame currently contains needlework panel: 1936-661
Label TextThis form of fire screen with uprights supporting a sliding panel came into fashion as early as the end of the seventeenth century. Termed a “horse fire screen” in the period and illustrated in British design books, the name derives from it having a wide cloth or needlework panel supported by two arched or scrolled legs. This type of fire screen was also referred to as a cheval screen; cheval being the French word for horse. While most surviving examples are European, American price books of the late 18th century mentioned the form. The Philadelphia Cabinet and Chairmakers Book of Prices for 1796 described it as: “A horse fire screen about 2 feet 6 by 1 foot 4, to stand upon two double feet, with straight frame, all plain, (exclusive of silk).”