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.

More Frames seen in Birmingham Museum

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.

Louis XVI Revival Frame

Antique Frames

18th C Neoclassical Carved Frame

18th Century Carved Frame

A lovely little carved 18th Century frame, I call this style a Romney frame after the artist, it is an ideal period frame for drawings, sketches, or watercolours.

Antique Neoclassical Frame

A simple Neoclassical style 19th Century frame, it has a good original gold leaf finish, which makes a change from the horrible over-painting often seen on antique frames.

Two French Antique Frames and a Vintage Artist's Frame

Examples of three French picture frames. Top is a 19th C Barbizon frame, middle a 19th C second Empire fluted neoclassical frame, and bottom is a mid 20th C Parisian frame known as a Montparnasse style. All of these are part of my new stock, and once catalogued they will be for sale.

Last damaged frame...

The last damaged frame to come into the workshop today, was this Victorian Neoclassical frame. It has numerous small areas that need repairing, but overal the condition is relatively good.

Neoclassical carved antique frame

This antique carved neoclassical frame, probably 18th century Italian, is an excellent example of a frame that has an original water gilded and burnished finish underneath a later applied gilded finish consisting of layers of gesso, bole, and oil gilding. This was probably done in the 19th century as the later applied finish is very aged and dirty. There are a few reasons why this may have been done; perhaps areas of the original gilding were worn through and heavily distressed, or perhaps the highly burnished finish was too bright for the taste and fashion of the time. In the photos you can see one area where the 'new' gilding and gesso has come away from the original gilding, which appears to be in very good condition. The frame also looks as if it has been cut down, possibly when it was re-gilded.