A Reproduction Spanish Cassetta Frame

Repro Louis XIV Frame

A late 20th Century carved reproduction Louis XIV flower corner frame.

Louis XV Carved Reproduction Frame

A good quality carved reproduction Louis XV swept frame.

Gilding a Watts Frame

Carved Tondo Frame

Gold Watts Frame

Louis XIV Reproduction Frames

A selection of reproduction Louis XIV corner and centre frame corner samples, in various finishes.

Original and Repro

Here is a comparison between an original 17th Century Louis XIII flower corner frame (the style overlaps into the Louis XIV period) and a modern, 20th Century reproduction. The style is also referred to as a Lebrun frame after the French painter who was the first painter to Louis XIV, and was declared by the Sun King as "the greatest French artist of all time"

Stages of making a frame

Large Carlo Maratta

Frame stock

I had a big delivery of frames arrive last week, a really good selection of antique, vintage repro, and modern reproduction frames. There were considerably more than advertised so it has taken a few days to sort through them and get them put away, and I have not started to catalogue them accurately yet. I will take a few photos of some of my favourites in a few days.

Reproduction Watts frame

The gilding of this Watts frame was finished recently, here are a few photos of some of the stages involved.

Washline and swept

A more traditional frame and mount choice for a watercolour, is a reproduction English style swept frame and washline mount.

Louis XIV frame

This lovely frame came into the workshop this evening, a really good example of a compo ornamented frame. I am going to call it a Louis XIV revival frame for the time being, although I may revise this description once I have had a chance to look through my reference books.

Replica frame

A 19th Century frame on the left, which has been cut down slightly, and on the right is a replica moulding machined from tulip. The new frame will be finished the same as the antique one, to make a matching pair. The copying of the profile is done by a picture framers who make their own mouldings, the cutting knife heads for the moulding machine have to be made up to order, and then the replica moulding can be made.

Reproduction 18th Century frame

Here a reproduction 18th Century English Carlo Maratta type profile has been used to frame an antique painting on canvas.

New old stock

I started collecting part of a large number of stock frames this weekend, here are some of  them before they have been put away in the storage racks. It is a real mixed lot with a few 18th Century, a number of 19th Century and lots of 20th C and repro frames of almost every imaginable style, condition, and quality.

Carved reproduction frame

This is a reproduction carved frame, lovely work, with a water gilded finish which is not overly bright and rubbed through to the bole and gesso in places. I am not entirely sure what style this frame fits into. I think it is best just described as Louis XV but perhaps it also has a Régence feel to it, which was the period immediately before Louis XV. But on the other hand... it has some more restrained elements like the straight gadrooned sides  which make me think of the end of the Louis XV period when the favoured frame designs in France went right back to much less flamboyant and more classic designs that became the mark of the Louis XVI period.
A lovely frame whatever it's called! answers or ideas on a postcard to the usual address...