Exceptional French Painted Leather Screen From The 17th Century W/ Pastoral Scenes

This exceptional six-leaf screen, painted on leather in France during the 17th century, unfolds a rare and atmospheric cycle of pastoral scenes. Each leaf is divided into stacked reserves, together presenting sixteen vignettes of riders, shepherds, cottages, cattle, and sheep set within wooded landscapes. The palette layers moss green, umber, and sienna with soft blue-greys, the skies touched by subtle silvering. The leather is lightly tooled in places, giving a gentle relief that catches shifting light. Recently remounted on a wooden chassis for stability. The surface bears the poetry of age, with weathered passages, craquelure, gentle creasing, and scattered abrasions that together create a patina of centuries, yet the composition remains remarkably unified and deeply atmospheric.

Painted leather screens of this caliber are exceedingly rare survivals. Valenciennes and Northern French workshops were renowned for such work, blending local craftsmanship with Flemish taste. The technique, descended from Spanish guadamecí, combined layered preparation of hide with oil pigments, gilt or silver accents, and light embossing to animate texture. The pastoral imagery recalls the Northern Baroque tradition, evoking the spirit of Teniers and his circle, whose rustic pastorales once animated the walls of townhouses and chateaux. Screens of this type functioned as movable architecture, softening drafts, creating intimacy, and offering both comfort and pictorial luxury.

Today, this extraordinary screen brings an unmatched sense of historic grandeur and decorative richness to an interior. It transforms a library, salon, or principal bedroom into a setting of distinction, where grazing light animates the silvered skies and softly raised foliage with atmospheric brilliance. Whether placed as a dramatic backdrop behind a console, paired with noble oak and walnut furnishings, or installed flat as paneling, it elevates a room beyond ornament, creating an atmosphere that balances grandeur, intimacy, and singularity.