Combining elegance to safety, the wire-meshed firescreen allows one to gaze at the comforting roaring fire, not being dazzled. Although several models restyle Baroque and Rocaille spirits, it is an invention of 19th century, a period concerned with the progress in decorative arts.
It follows the firescreens carpeted with precious cloth, that were still flammable and hid the health. The high society enjoys the gilded bronze or brass models, equipped with a handle and which baroque outlines evoke the flames and glow by the fire. Little scenes on them suggest the flames symbolism : Winter, but also Love are often evoked.
Such firescreens of gilded bronze have furnished the Hôtel of Pontalba, nowadays the Embassy of the United States in Paris, or Cora Pearl’s mansion, a courtesan close to the Emperor Napoleon III.
