Spanish wall

Chinese screen in the Imperial Furniture Collection, Vienna, 18th century.

The folding screen , also known as screen or (of or) Screen [ paʁavɑ ] ( French paravent , Italian para vento , "the wind Abhaltender") is a collapsible, anywhere deployable wall to protect against wind on balconies and in gardens against flying sparks in ovens or in rooms as a privacy screen or partition element.

It consists of individual hinged frames ( Leporello ), which are covered with fabric or wallpaper and have more or less artistic decorations. You can easily assume any curvature and be flexibly set up or dismantled.

history

Contrary to what the name suggests, the Spanish wall as a room divider was not invented in Spain - there and in Portugal called biombo from Japanese byōbu - but comes from China . It is still widespread in the architecture there today. The Spanish wall originally served as a windbreak in China. The first specimens found date from the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD). In Japan, the function of the screen was taken over and its own design was added ( Japanese wall screen ).

The room dividers came from Asia to Europe, especially France . In the French and a little later also in the Spanish royal houses, the often richly decorated room dividers served as privacy screens for nobles who dressed themselves behind the protection of the Spanish wall or who relieved themselves there. The wooden frame of the partition walls was usually covered with fine fabrics such as brocade or velvet and decorated with artistic paintings.

Today the Spanish wall is a design element of modern interior design. Fleece, paper or wallpaper are mostly used for covering. There are also room dividers made of wood or bamboo. The latter variants are particularly weatherproof and are therefore suitable as privacy protection in the outdoor area, for example in the garden or on the balcony. Depending on the function the screen is supposed to fulfill - as a room divider or as a privacy screen - it is available in different sizes and with different levels of transparency.

Web links

Commons : Folding screens - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Spanish wall - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: Paravent - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

↑ Paravent, Duden. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
↑ biombo in the Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española
↑ Sarah Handler: Austere luminosity of Chinese classical furniture . University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif. 2007, p. 268, ISBN 978-0-520-21484-2 .
↑ Karen Mazurkewich, A. Chester Ong: Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques . Tuttle Publ., New York 2006, pp. 144-146, ISBN 978-0-8048-3573-2 .

[1] Paravent, Duden. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .

[2] biombo in the Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española

[3] Sarah Handler: Austere luminosity of Chinese classical furniture . University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif. 2007, p. 268, ISBN 978-0-520-21484-2 .

[4] Karen Mazurkewich, A. Chester Ong: Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques . Tuttle Publ., New York 2006, pp. 144-146, ISBN 978-0-8048-3573-2 .