A folding screen made in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and collected by Guangdong Museum. Measuring 2.155 meters in height and 4.48 meters in width, the black lacquer screen has a wooden structure with gold-traced painting. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

While businesspeople from home and abroad trade electronic products and machinery at the ongoing China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, they may not realize that Chinese folding screens made their way to Europe as early as in the 17th century.

The screens have been popular in Europe ever since, considered artifacts of oriental culture and used as partitioning devices, according to Guangzhou Daily reports.

Part of a folding screen made in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and collected by Guangdong Museum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

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.

Part of a folding screen made in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and collected by Guangdong Museum. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As some experts put it, in the late 17th century, Anhui businesspeople shipped screens to the coastal regions of Guangdong and Fujian, where the furniture was then exported to Europe.

Guangzhou, now capital of Guangdong province, represented a key part in the supply chain, a place where the screens were shipped, lacquer was applied, and painting was done. It was also a port for exporting the finished products.

Most of the wares exported to Europe were black with gold-traced painting. After reaching their destination, the screens were transformed as requested by patrons, with some dismantled into smaller pieces for decoration, said scholar He Zhenji.