Ecran à main de forme octogonale. Papier recouvert de soie, Napoléon III

- Octagonal hand screen*. Paper covered with black silk finely embroidered with stylized plant motifs (front side), ecru silk embroidered with the number "MA" surmounted by a crown (back side).
- Finely chiseled and gilded metal structure in the shape of a star. Pompoms attached to the structure echo the threads used for embroidery. As it is, the ecru silk on the back is pitted in some places (see photos).
- 19th century (Napoleon III). Height: 43 cm

* The hand screen is a domestic accessory that was once reserved for the interior of bourgeois and aristocratic dwellings. Also called cheek guard, spark guard, face screen, it allows those who stand near a fireplace to protect their face from the heat of the fire. It is thus a sort of portable complement to the fireplace screen. This accessory belongs to the closed world of boudoirs and small apartments, used daily in winter.