22ct Moon Gold

A frame with two sections gilded with 22ct moon gold. The middle section and sides will be painted.

Lots of gilded frames

Stripped or decapé finish carved frames

Two nice antique carved frames (18th Century approx) which have been stripped of gesso and gilding at some point in the past, they are known as decapé frames. 

3 Lely frames

19th Century Carlo Maratta frame

Frames in retail displays

A walk round most town or city shopping areas will provide some examples of frames used in retail window displays. I visited Hereford yesterday and saw a shoe shop using cardboard cut-out swept frames, and an O2 sign which was framed with a white painted moulding. An in depth article on this (and other commercial use of frames) can be found on The Frame Blog - The Borders of Commerce (also read part 1!)

re-gilt hollow

This is the gilt hollow frame from a few posts ago, the flaking gilding was removed and the hollow has been re-gilded.

Size, weak gesso, and gesso

Back at work after a short holiday, and I have lots of work booked in for the next 3 months. Here are a few frames in progress that are well under way at the moment, they will have gilded and painted finishes.

Spandrels and Arched Slips

A few examples of spandrels and arch-topped slips, with various ornament and decoration. Three example have composition ornament, the one above has a low relief floral design built up from gesso (pastiglia), and there is also a nice example of incised decoration which depicts a ship flying British flags.

Watercolour Framing

A watercolour mounted with three layer museum mountboard, frame with paint and gilded finish.

Distressed Paint

Distressed paint, gilt, and wax finish frame and slip.

Zinsser Spot Priming

The previous pine frame with the knots now primed with Zinsser BIN, which is a very versatile primer paint and suitable for many different uses and top finishes.

Treating a Pine Frame

This pine frame was given a glue size coat, then the knots were treated with shellac. Next a coat of Zinsser BIN (shellac based stain blocker) will be applied. Another coat of glue size will be brushed all over, before the frame is given a few coats of gesso.

Ultra shabby chic carved 18th C picture frame.

An 18th Century carved wood frame, like the previous post and one from a few days ago, it has been cut down in the past to fit a smaller painting. This one has not faired so well over the years! with flaking gesso/gilding, losses to the wood, and the joins are clearly visible. Despite the obvious poor condition, I think a frame like this is the ultimate shabby chic piece. The frame and its appearance really contains a story; it was originally skilfully hand carved and gilded, it has surrounded a number of paintings, it has been cut down in the past to fit a smaller painting, it has been through numerous owners, and all this history is reflected in its current condition and appearance. 

With a frame like this, with its heavily distressed and flaking surface, if the customers wish is to just hang it as it is, with or without a painting or mirror, it can be treated to stabilise and reduce the flaking surface. To do this I would treat the entire surface with consolidating adhesive such as traditional size glue, or even better use a conservation adhesive such as Paraloid B72 or Plextol B500. It will then be good for a many more years.

Another 18th C frame cut down.

This is another example of an 18th Century English carved frame that has been cut down, probably in the 19th or early 20thC to fit a smaller painting. The join is hardly visible from the front but on the back you can see the wooden inserts used to strengthen the back of the cut. Almost certainly re-gilded at the same time, although now it has quite a aged and dark patina.

Rosewood antique frames

Here is a selection of just some of the 18th and 19th Century rosewood veneer frames that I have available. One of the most beautiful woods used in frame and furniture making, these rosewood frames can be used for period framing of antique prints or make fine looking mirrors.

Flaking gilding

This mid to late 20th C repro gilded English hollow frame, or Morland frame as they are sometimes called, has large sections of the oil gilding flaking away on the hollow section. This could be for a number of reasons, the rest of the gilding seems fine, just this one section that has failed.

Work in progress...

Here are lots of frames being worked on at the moment, currently at the bole painting stage. This batch of about 15 frames will be finished next week, and then a large exhibition order of 37 gilded and painted frames will be the main focus of work in the workshop. Around this will be the continued cataloguing and inventory work on the recently delivered stock of antique frames, and other jobs that have been waiting very patiently. August and September are pretty much over-flowing with orders, although at least two months work ahead at any one time has been the norm here for the last few years.