Design Large Curved Fireplace Screen in Black Steel Mesh with Polished Brass Frame

This design fireplace screen is an object of remarkable formal distinction, combining the most practical of fireplace accessories with a sculptural conception that lifts it entirely above the purely utilitarian. The screen is constructed on a generous bowed arc — curving forward from its two brass side uprights in a continuous, graceful convexity that gives it an almost architectural presence before the fireplace opening. At 96 cm in width and 50 cm in height, it is a screen of substantial scale, well suited to a large and formal hearth.

The infill is a fine black steel mesh, woven or pressed into a tight geometric pattern that creates a remarkable visual effect: the interaction between the mesh’s regular weave and the curvature of the frame generates a series of moiré interference patterns that shimmer and shift as the viewer moves around the piece. This is not a merely incidental quality but appears to be very much intended — the moiré effect is one of the most celebrated optical phenomena in twentieth-century art and design, and its appearance here suggests a maker with a clear awareness of the visual culture of the period.

The brass frame is designed with great restraint: a simple flat bar provides the top rail and straight side uprights complete the perimeter in a profile that is deliberately understated, allowing the mesh and its optical effects to dominate the composition. The polished brass surface, warm and reflective, provides the necessary counterpoint to the dark graphic quality of the mesh, framing the visual field with a precise golden border.

This is a screen of considerable rarity and originality. Its combination of large scale, continuous curve, optical mesh and refined brass frame places it at the intersection of functional design and the optical art of its decade — an object that enriches the domestic space it inhabits with a presence that is both quietly dramatic and entirely practical.