In "The Lumber Room," Nicholas finds among the stored furniture and objects a decorated fire screen. Nicholas becomes transfixed by the scene the needlework tapestry depicts: a huntsman, having just shot an arrow at a deer, stands oblivious to the wolf pack approaching him from the woods.
Although they were often elaborately and beautifully decorated, fire screens were functional items. Before centralized heating was invented, homes and buildings relied on vigorously burning fires to heat interior spaces. Placed between a person and a fire burning in an indoor fireplace, the screens were designed to block intense brightness and excess heat coming from burning logs. The screens also provided protection against embers sparking from the fire and damaging the room. The screens had the additional function of covering up the open fireplace when no fire burned, keeping out drafts from the chimney and concealing the blackened brickwork.
A functional object dating back to the Middle Ages, the fire screen became a luxury furniture item in the 18th century. Usually crafted from a flat wooden panel standing on two legs, the screens were embroidered with needlework and painted on. Some stained-glass examples still exist.
Fire screens were largely phased out with the introduction of new heating technologies, such as cast-iron stoves, in the 1800s. Modern fire screens are usually made out of fireproof metal or mesh for additional protection from wayward embers.
