Old Studio Photos

I found and scanned these old print photos recently, they are of my first studio/workshop in Broadway. I think this would be about 2003. The room was for many years a grocery shop and made a really nice framing studio, the old stock rooms out the back were my workshop. The huge frame in these photos was made by a cabinet maker and was brought to me for gilding, it only just fitted through the double doors. I really liked this studio but being in Broadway it was very expensive and really I needed more work space instead of a studio, also as my work was/is predominantly trade based I didn't really need a location with passing trade.

Large Painting

A large painting on board that has been framed in a box frame, with a gap around the inner frame and then another outer box frame.

Oxford Frames

Here is a good selection of antique Oxford frames, the description for this type of frames being:

'A picture-frame the sides of which cross each other and project some distance at the corners' - (Oxford English Dictionary).

An in depth article about these 19th Century frames can be found on the National Portrait Gallery website: Oxford Frames by Jacob Simon.

Finished Gilded and Painted Frame

Broken Rebate

This antique slip (re-gilded at some point with metal leaf) has been damaged during shipping, pressure on the back of the painting has caused the rebate (rabbet) to split. 

Gesso Trays

A couple of tray frames coated with gesso. The inner sections only had 3 coats, but the face and sides had 7. Next comes sanding and smoothing, probably the least enjoyable aspect of making handmade frames.

Round Mirror Frame

This 18th/19th Century round mirror frame had many layers of later applied gilding and paint, here it is being stripped and a more original gold leaf finish will be restored. This is another frame for the Belmont project.

Large Tray Frame

A large tray style frame for a painting on board.

Painted and Gilded Frame Wash

 The next stages for this frame are to have some colour washes on top of the painted middle and side sections. The masking tape is then removed it will then be left to dry overnight. 

Deep Canvas Tray Frame

Deep canvases are often hung without a frame, which I think is how they are intended to be displayed, sometimes also with the sides painted. But occasionally they need to be framed. Here I am making a tray frame for a deep canvas by using some strip wood for the sides/front, and the back is made from a profile that is usually used as a slip. This frame will be gessoed and the face will be gilded.

Painting a Frame

This frame is just being painted on the middle section and sides. The gilding is burnished on the outer section but the inner part is not burnished. The gilding is masked off while I do the painting.

Oval Carved Frame

Another frame that is for a Georgian villa restoration project. The frame is carved, one of a pair, the top of the bow was missing so a new section has been carved. It will be finished to match the existing dark colour, a few other areas also need some repair work, there is a missing section at the bottom, and some splits in the timber. Splits are a common problem on oval and round antique frames as they are made from a number of different sections of wood to get the shape, these joints are under stress as the timber moves over the years so will eventually open up.

18th Century Carved Candle Holder

This 18th Century carved wood candle holder came in with the 18th C mirror frame posted yesterday, part of a large restoration project of a Georgian house. It has been over-painted and has a few sections missing, the condition is a little fragile so it will also need some securing. The later applied gold paint, which has tarnished over time and gone this horrible brown bronze colour, will be removed. 

Tray Frames

I have lots of orders for canvas tray or float frames at the moment, some will be painted, and others gilded, this is just a few of them cut to size and waiting to be joined together.

18th Century Carved Mirror Frame

This very nice 18th Century mirror frame has come in for some repairs. It is carved and some missing sections of carving have been replaced by a student/apprentice carver. The frame has a water gilded finish which is in relatively good condition, I will gesso and gild the repairs, give some areas a light clean, and do some securing of some loose sections. It will eventually hang in a Georgian villa that is also being restored.

Carved Detail

A close-up of the ornament detail on a lovely carved frame, showing C scrolls, flowers, and leaves, and the fine cross hatching and stippled background areas of the frame.

Repaired Frame

This 19th Century fluted second empire style continental frame has been repaired, it had various losses to the ornament and damage to the gesso.

Gold Leaf Finish

A gold leaf gilded frame that is having any small breaks in the leaf patched, known as 'faulting'. It will then be distressed and finished.

Start to Finish

There are lots of stages in between these two photos, from a barewood obeche frame to the 12ct white gold gilded frame, takes a minimum 8 days between the various stages and layers.

Large Swept 19th Century Frame

Acorns, Oak Leaves, Acanthus Leaves...

Fancy Compo Corners

Another example of a large composition 19th Century frame, this one has a rebate size of 55" x 40" and would make a super mirror.

Another Sanded Frame

A very large French wedge shaped frame with another example of a sanded section.

Sanded Cove

This interesting antique frame has a cove with very course grain sanded ground. The outer design (on the left of the image) is also made from (a finer course) sand.

Victorian Régence/Louis XV Revival Frame

Local Antique Frame

This large antique Barbizon style frame with Greek key pattern, was made by a framemaker called Alfred Mason, at 15 Foregate Street, Worcester. This address is just round the corner from where I live. The building is now a number of businesses, including a Jewellers.

Metal Leaf

A couple of 20th Century frames that have been gilded at the corners, centres, and rails with metal leaf. The top frame is the one from a few posts ago, which had four broken corners.

Laurel Wreath

A fine 19th Century frame with a single large laurel wreath as a centre decoration.

Combed Gesso Artist's Frame

Pair of Fluted Frames

A good, pair of fluted second Empire frames that have a nicely distressed antique original gilded finish, they just need some repairs to make them complete.