An early 20th Century American version of an Italian cassetta frame, probably made by Newcomb Macklin Co.
Wednesday
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.
Antique Frame Sale on Facebook
If you follow my framing blog and you also like antique frames, or are looking to buy an antique frame for a painting, mirror, or to hang on the wall as a piece of art in its own right. Then I recently started a Facebook page for my Antique Frame Sale service which will offer a large selection of antique, vintage, old, and reproduction frames for sale. I will also use the page to post antique frame related links. Please take a look and like, if you want to be kept up to date with the frames I have for sale, thank you.
Workshop refitting
The workshop is undergoing a refit at the moment, just generally changing the layout and making some more space for storing frames.
Sunday
Frames seen in the Ashmolean Museum Broadway
Corner details of some of the antique frames seen in the Ashmolean Museum Broadway.
Thursday
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.
A frame painted with yellow bole...
A gesso frame which is being painted with yellow bole, it will be gilded in 12ct white gold.
Tuesday
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.
Another damaged frame
This Scottish made antique swept frame has various areas of damage to the composition ornament. I like the design of this frame, especially the large leaves at the centres which are more realistic/organic looking than many designs.
Frame damage
A swept frame with typical transit/shipping damage, one of the centres has been knocked off. Unfortunately the missing section was lost, which is a shame as it would have saved some time and made the repair much easier.
Friday
World Cup 2014
We are showing our support for England in the World Cup, with this framed flag made from mountboard!
Antique sub-frame
An example of a sub-frame used on an antique framed watercolour. When a narrow moulding is used on a large picture, a sub-frame is fitted to create a strong frame to take the size and weight.
Saturday
Watts repairs
This outer section of a Watts frame has been cut down, and is having a few repairs to the composition ornament.
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.