A Reproduction Spanish Cassetta Frame

Frames in the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery has some wonderful frames in their collection, here are just a few from a recent visit.

Cassetta Frame

This 20th Century reproduction Italian cassetta frame has a lovely aged and distressed look to the gilded and painted design on the flat section. 

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Here are a few frames I liked on a recent visit to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Last time I went a couple of the rooms were closed, and they now have a new Baroque gallery display. The post about my previous visit (here) complained about the lack of anti-reflective glass and this is still a nuisance on many of the paintings, and for me negatively effects the viewing of the paintings.

Carved Cassetta Frame

A lovely 19th Century revival carved copy of an Italian 16th? C cassetta frame.

White Cassetta Frame

A corner sample of a tray type cassetta frame, finished in white, a style that is sometimes referred to as a St. Ives frame. As a guide to prices, a frame like this sample to fit a 12" x 12" painting costs around £25 in materials charged, and the same in labour and overheads, with VAT the total cost is £60

Wooden Antique Frames

I love to see the great variation of frame designs, ornament, and surfaces. These are all examples of wooden antique frames; a birds eye maple veneer, carved hardwood cassetta frame, and a carved (lime?) Louis XIII style frame.

Cassetta Frames in the National Gallery

My favourite antique frame styles are Italian and Spanish cassetta frames, here are a few I saw recently at the National Gallery in London.

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology University of Oxford

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has a wonderful collection of European paintings and frames. I am particularly fond of cassetta frames, of which they have many lovely examples. The small guide book 'Frames and Framings - Ashmolean Guide Books' looks at 34 of the frames in the collection and is well worth getting if you like frames, and plan to visit the museum.