Anglo-Indian Carved Four-Panel Folding Screen, Brass Inlay

Four-panel folding screen of solid hardwood, densely carved and fully pierced throughout with grapevine, foliage, and floral motifs in the Anglo-Indian tradition. Each panel rises to a shaped, scalloped crest carved with stylized vine leaves and flanked by finial points — a form directly descended from Mughal-era jali work, where stone lattice filtered light and air through palace screens. Here the same grammar translates into wood: tiered cartouches frame oval honeycomb lattice fields, each oval studded with brass rosette inlays that catch and scatter light as the viewing angle shifts. Scrolling vine borders unify the composition across all four panels, and brass hinges allow the screen to fold and stand freely without additional hardware.

The reticulated construction is the screen's defining quality — at distance it reads as an intricate textile, up close as a continuous field of individual carving decisions made by hand. Screens of this ambition and scale were produced primarily in Saharanpur and Jodhpur for the export market from the late nineteenth century onward; this example is consistent with that tradition in both vocabulary and execution.

CONDITION

Good overall. No breaks or chips to any of the four panels, and carving and brass inlays are intact throughout. Minor scuffs consistent with use; no remarkable damage.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 73.5" H × 80.25" W × 0.75" D (panel thickness)
• Four hinged panels, freestanding
• Solid hardwood construction
• Brass floral rosette inlays throughout lattice fields
• Brass hinges between panels
• Bob Ross (6'2") Shown for Scale