This outer section of a Watts frame has been cut down, and is having a few repairs to the composition ornament.
Saturday
Modern British
An example of a modern British water gilded and distressed paint frame, this one has incised details at the corners and centres, which you don't see very often and add a nice touch. This frame was made by a very long established London framemaker.
Black oak
An oak miniature frame which has a black stain finish and shellac sealer, it will be waxed and polished.
New neighbours
We have some new neighbours, some very inquisitive young cows have moved into the field behind the workshop.
Corner joints
Here are a few examples of corner joining methods, first below is dovetail keys, useful for deep box frames and wide mouldings, also provides a good, strong joint.
Below is the most common joining method in modern picture framing, it is the underpinner 'V' nail, these little metal right angle nails are fired into the mitre joint using a underpinner machine which drives the nail into the wood, these machines are either manually powered by foot pressure, or pneumatically. These nails are really only intended to hold the joint together while the wood glue sets, the photo below shows the front frame has 5 nails in each corner, this was made by a trainee who thought that more was better, when in fact this number of pins is excessive, wastes money, and even creates a poorer joint. The frame behind shows the 'V' nails on the inside and outside, a much better example.
The example below shows how not to join a frame... looks like an artist has been making his own frames...
Below is a common method of joining large profiles, used extensively in the 19th Century and early 20th Century in England, mitre blocks with nails cross-pinned through the sides of the corners.
Lastly for now (there are other methods I will show later) is another old method, the mitre spline:
12ct distressed finish
This frame has 12ct white gold water gilding with a distressed paint and waxy finish.
Flamingos by Jeremy Houghton
This gilded and painted frame was made for one of my regular artist clients; Jeremy Houghton, you can see lots more of his work on his website:
Distressed finish
An early 20th Century Louis XIV corner and centre frame with a very distressed, layered gilt/paint finish, sometimes called a decapé finish.