Backing Up


Hey.  Quick question.  (How many forty-minute phone calls begin this way?)  I have an empty and awkward corner in my living room (we try not to discuss it in front of her, poor dear) where I'd like to have a Chinese screen.  Except.  Well, except that I tend to like the backs of Chinese screens better than the fronts.  That's the wrong side, right?  Or were both sides displayed and those of us who have a quieter bent can just stand where there's less show?  The screen pictured above seems perfect (even outside of the eight-paneled 1840-ness of it.)  Would you guess that that is the back?  And, can I just appreciate it like a Pilates-toned matron?  Or do I need to come to grips with the face-to-face?

Image, House and Garden, April 2003, design, Maxine Harrison; photography, Melanie Acevedo.

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