Fire Screen
1924–30
Max Kuehne American, born Germany, 1880–1968
United States
Originally trained as a painter, Max Kuehne began to make furniture in 1917 after a trip to Spain, where he observed craftsmen using Renaissance woodworking techniques. Kuehne’s designs were highly unconventional: he made his own pieces with large areas for decoration, which he incised, gilded, and painted with modern elements inspired by non-Western cultures. The imagery on this fire screen— scrolling clouds and bold animals bounding through a lush landscape—recalls Persian miniature paintings.
Gessoed wood, watercolor, silver leaf, and shellac