Foldable screens have a long history in China

Records show that around 1700, the British East India Company imported three shiploads of cargo from the southern port city of Guangzhou, including lacquer screens, cabinets and beds.

English writer William Somerset Maugham wrote On a Chinese Screen, describing his travel life in China, first published in 1922.

Madame de Pompadour, a mistress of King Louise XV of France, used to collect the screens.