Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History  Interiors Imagined: Folding
Screens, Garments, and Clothing Stands  Thematic Essays  By
Category  By Geographical Region & Time Period By Department
Folding screens in Japan functioned both as a type of furnishing
and as decoration. Byôbu, the Japanese term for folding screen,
comprises two characters—byô refers to a wall, fence, or screen,
and the character for bu, also read as fu, means wind.
Literally, the byôbu functioned as protection against the wind.
Screens served to divide large open spaces into more intimate
and private areas, often for the purposes of dressing or
sleeping. The glimmering gold-leaf surfaces characteristic of
folding screens reflected ambient light and enlivened the space
with the pictorial scenes upon them. In outdoor settings,
screens could be arranged to function like portable walls,
demarcating space and shielding revelers from prying eyes.  By
recasting these screens as pictorialized versions of actual
clothing stands laden with lavishly patte