Black and gilt ripple moulding

This late 20th C ripple moulding frame was cut down from 20" x 16" to 14" x 16". Because of the gilt corners the frame was reduced in size by removing the unwanted sections around the middle of each long size. The back and rebate spacers were covered in hessian fabric and the canvas was float mounted on the backing.

Nice ripple frame for repairs

Polished walnut ripple

A blog watcher sent me a nice message wondering if I ever finished this frame sample. I did but neglected to post the finished result, so here it is, my polished walnut offset corners, pear ripple mouldings with polished and gilded finish, and rosewood centre insert. There were aspects of this frame that I was happy with, others that I was not keen on, but this is nothing unusual. A finished frame was made up, but thankfully it was a simplified version.

More mouldings

The last two mouldings have been cut for this sample, they will be oil gilded and then fixed to the frame. The next photo of this will be the end result.

Samples...

The two samples from a few posts ago, a little further along. The walnut offset corner has been made nice and smooth and two ripple mouldings have been glued in place. The poor fitting of the rosewood insert was intentional as my original idea was to have a moulding going around it, covering the join, although I now wish I had made it perfectly flush. This would have not taken much more work and I think the extra moulding may be a little too much. Anyway we will see how it develops.

Next stages

The frame at the top, a wide scoop profile was seen being sized in an earlier post here. It has now been sanded and the inner and outer painted with red brown Pelican Plaka paint. The ripple moulding was seen gessoed here. It has now been sanded and sprayed black.

Ripple in gesso

This ripple style moulding is made from obeche with the two ripple patterns being made from a material called pasta, which is basically wood pulp and binders. The patterns are created with an embossing wheel, (I waffled on about this in a post about a month ago) this moulding is bought unfinished, and in this photo the first coat of gesso has been applied to the frame.

The genuine and original 17th C European, (commonly but not exclusively Dutch) ripple and ebonised frames are highly sought after, and go for high prices. The mouldings have quite an interesting history, with carving machines being developed to create the repetitive waveform, flame, or ripple shapes. The first reproduction machine used to recreate the ripple mouldings was built by the legendary frame expert Paul Levi. 

A fascinating article on the ripple mouldings and waveform machine was written by Professor Jonathan Thornton, who also made a reproduction "waving engine machine". The article says that the ripple type moulding was probably first developed in Germany around 1600:

http://cool.conservation-us.org/coolaic/sg/wag/2002/WAG_02_thornton.pdf

If you want to make a reproduction frame in this style now, there is a very good supplier of pearwood waveform mouldings in Salzburg, Austria, called Jakob Schiffer.
http://www.flammleisten.at/index%20englisch.html 

Dutch ripple moulding

Here is another frame that has been made while I have been away. It is a classic ripple frame with a deep ebonised polished finish, (often called a Dutch or Flemish frame but this is an inaccurate association as the style was found in many European countries), with oil gilded inner and outer edges. I do like these styles of frames, even though they are often dark the polished finish and the ripples reflect light and create an interesting effect. The original antique frames in this, and similar styles command relatively high prices.

Anyway, back to this frame, the moulding is bought in unfinished lengths (between 2.5m and 3m long) in obeche wood with the ripple pattern already applied in a material known as pasta, which is made from wood pulp and binders. This type of moulding is made something like this; the base moulding is fed through a machine with a metal embossing wheel which has the ripple pattern carved into the wheel, the pasta material (in a dough like consistency) is fed onto the moulding, and as it passes through the wheel and the length of moulding moves through the machine, the ripple pattern is impressed into the pasta.