Three-Panel Modernist Brass and Wire Mesh Folding Fireplace Screen with Curved Frame. France. Circa 1970.

This three-panel fireplace screen is distinguished from its contemporaries by the treatment of its brass frame: where most screens of the period employ sharp corners or at most slightly softened profiles, this example takes the rounding to a considerably greater degree, giving each panel an almost softly rectangular, cushion-like silhouette. This design decision, characteristic of a certain strand of French modernist taste in the early 1970s that favoured gentle curves and an approachable, domestic warmth over more austere geometry, results in a screen that sits comfortably in a broad range of interiors without demanding the strict formality that a sharp-cornered neoclassical frame would impose.

The frame itself is broad and flat in section, the polished brass presenting a generous reflecting surface along each edge of the three panels. This breadth, combined with the rounded corners, creates a frame that reads more like the surround of a contemporary painting or mirror than a conventional fireplace accessory. The visual effect is cohesive and considered: the screen announces itself as a designed object, not merely a functional necessity, and the relationship between its warm golden frame and the dark wire mesh filling is handled with the ease of long-established craft practice.

The three panels hinge along the vertical joints, allowing the screen to be positioned flat against the fireplace opening or angled outward on each side as circumstances require. At 62 centimetres wide and just under 45 centimetres tall, the proportions are well suited to a fireplace of moderate dimensions while remaining substantial enough to fill the opening convincingly. The fine dark wire mesh provides reliable spark protection while permitting the glow of the fire to remain visible.

In very good condition, retaining its original polished brass frame and wire mesh with natural patination. A versatile and well-made screen with a quietly distinctive modernist character, suited equally to period and contemporary settings.