Neoclassical Three-Panel Fire Screen in Expanded Steel Mesh

This neoclassical three-panel fire screen asserts its decorative personality through the combination of expanded steel mesh and applied brass fleur-de-lis ornaments. The body of each of the three articulated panels is filled with expanded steel — a material that gives the screen a more graphic and architecturally robust character than wire mesh, its bold geometric pattern capturing the light of the fire in a particularly dynamic way. The panels are framed in blackened steel, and the composition is topped with an ornate cast brass carrying handle. The decorative programme is provided by applied brass fleur-de-lis: a large example occupies the centre of the wide central panel, and smaller versions adorn each of the two side panels, introducing a warm golden note against the dark background of the mesh. The fleur-de-lis — the heraldic lily of the French crown — is a motif present in French decorative arts from all periods, used here to assert the neoclassical character of the piece and its place in the French decorative tradition. Dated around 1940, this screen belongs to the tradition of quality French fireplace accessories from the interwar period and the early post-war years, which continued to draw on historical ornamental vocabulary for the production of sophisticated interior furnishings.