Fig. 164.—Curtain screen.
A screen or curtain is often seen in doorways and passageways, consisting of a fringe of cords, upon which have been strung like beads short sections of bamboo, with black seeds at intervals. A portion of one of these fringed curtains is illustrated in [fig. 165]. Such a curtain has the advantage not only of being a good screen, but the inmates may pass through it, so to speak, without the necessity of lifting it. There are many forms of this curtain to be seen, and at present the Japanese are exporting a variety of delicate ones made of glass beads and sections of rushes.
Fig. 165.—Fringed curtains.
Cloth curtains are used at the entrance to the kitchen, and also to screen closet-like recesses. The cloth is cut at intervals, leaving [pg 184] a series of long flaps. This curtain is not readily swayed the wind, and can easily be passed through as one enters room ([fig. 166]). In front of the Japanese shop one may see a similar form of curtain slit at intervals, so that it may not be affected by ordinary winds.
There are doubtless many other forms of screens and curtains not here enumerated, but most of those described present the common forms usually observed.
