This large pastel from the late 19th or early 20th Century by a recognisable French artist was framed in a suitably grand looking frame. The pastel was spaced from the glass with a moongold water gilded bevel slip and the original 5mm wooden spacer fitted around the edge of the stretched material canvas. This gave a space of about 13mm from the glass, which I think is a minimum distance for these antique pastels on canvas, the surface is so delicate that any closer to the glass and the fine pastel can be attracted to the glass by static charge. Even a bump to the frame can cause the pastel dust to be dislodged. I am always glad to get these finished and out of the workshop as quickly as possible. The frame is probably best described as a English version of a French style of frame, a later revival frame, which is a combination of Louis XIV, Regence, and other influences and styles, so really I think it is well suited to the picture.
