Design Three-Panel Folding Fireplace Screen in Smoked Glass with Polished Brass Hinges

This remarkable three-panel folding fireplace screen represents one of the most distinctive expressions of the French design aesthetic of the late 1960s and early 1970s, when smoked and tinted glass became one of the most fashionable materials in interior decoration. Each panel is formed from a rectangular sheet of warm-toned brown smoked glass, the three sections hinged together by prominent square polished brass plate hinges at the junctions. The result is an object of quiet luxury — translucent, refined, and entirely unlike any conventional mesh or solid panel screen.

The smoked glass allows the glow of the fire to pass through in a softened, atmospheric manner, creating a play of warm amber light that is far more arresting than the opaque effect of a traditional solid screen or the purely functional filter of a wire mesh. The polished brass hinges, boldly proportioned and deliberately exposed rather than concealed, serve as the principal decorative element, their warm gold tone complementing the bronze-grey of the glass panels in a harmonious material dialogue characteristic of the finest French decorative work of the period.

At sixty-six centimetres wide and fifty-five centimetres high, the screen is well proportioned for a standard fireplace opening. The two lateral panels fold inward on their brass hinges to close the screen compactly, while in the open position the three panels form a stable freestanding configuration without additional feet or fixings — the glass itself providing structural rigidity through its depth and thickness. This elegantly simple structural solution is entirely in keeping with the purist, material-honest design philosophy of the era.

In very good overall condition, the smoked glass panels free of chips or cracks and the brass hinges retaining their original polish. A genuinely exceptional piece of 1970s French design, equally impressive in a period interior rich in lacquer, chrome and smoked glass, or as a statement object in a contemporary setting seeking a note of vintage sophistication.