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FSW (Folding Screen Wall)

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
U-shaped pieces, a by-product of early experiments with molding plywood, made it possible to construct this freestanding, adjustable, and easy-to-carry folding screen. Each panel is an undulating form. United by full-length canvas “hinges,” the panels suggest a succession of waves reaching the shoreline.

The FSW screen proved labor-intensive to produce, and it was discontinued in 1956. The piece shown here is unusual for its ebonized veneer and ten-panel width, rather than the typical eight.
MEDIUM Laminated plywood, canvas
  • Place Manufactured: Zeeland, Michigan, United States
  • DATES Designed 1946; Manufactured 1946–1955
    DIMENSIONS 67 9/16 x 101 3/4 x 3 1/16 in. (171.6 x 258.4 x 7.8 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 2000.75
    CREDIT LINE H. Randolph Lever Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Folding screen of black-stained, molded plywood and canvas. Ten panel screen of identical u-shaped panels held together by full-length natural-colored canvas strips that serve as hinges allowing the piece to be accordion-folded to the width of a single panel. Condition: good.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
    CAPTION Charles Eames (American, 1907–1978). FSW (Folding Screen Wall), Designed 1946; Manufactured 1946–1955. Laminated plywood, canvas, 67 9/16 x 101 3/4 x 3 1/16 in. (171.6 x 258.4 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 2000.75. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2000.75_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 2000.75_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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