The Framers Forum

A customer has bought in some watercolours that her grandmother painted around 1920, featuring ladies in the fashions of the period. They are only about 15"x11" but she would like them framed as they might have been at the time as she also lives in a house built around that time.

I guess we were around the Art Deco period but they certainly don't call for ostentatious art deco frames! Has anyone studied framing history?!

If anyone could offer me advice on possible shapes or colours that may be appropriate I would be eternally grateful - she bought them to me as an 'expert' but I'm certainly not an expert on history unfortunately!

Most frames I see from that period tend to fall into the shiny black or stained oak category. I wouldn't worry too much about historical authenticity, as long as the frames have the right 'feel'. What people imagine as the style of the period often bears little relation to what actually was happening at the time.