The Framers Forum

This came in the other day.


The last one was heavy enough but this one is a two-man lift.
I work alone here, so I'll have to ask a neighbour to help me lift it on to the bench.
I could ask my wife but then we wouldn't be speaking to each other for the rest of the day.

It's a 19th century Louis X111 style baroque acanthus and flower frame.
There's a lot of small losses to be repaired and the whole is covered in a rather grimy finish. I'll try cleaning this away with some Vulpex.

Looking up close you can see the extraordinary attention to detail which they took. The castings of the acanthus leaves are rolled back at the tips, then gilded with burnished gold so as to give the decoration a hard metallic appearance.


But then on the outer gilded walls, some idiot has gone around with a wet cloth and rubbed the gold back down to the underlying bole.
Depending how it cleans up, I might just keep that and accept it as part of the history.

Looks like a nice project!

Now that's a frame of quality. Note the crisp detail, not like a third or more generation compo ornament, of the ornamental details.

Whoa! Thats a beast! Must be a pretty special painting going in there?

Well, it came all the way down from Scotland, of all places.

The customer has it for a painting by the Scottish artist, James Paterson R.S.A.

The next problem is how to get it all the way back up there.

There is a Fine Art Trade Guild day on the 23rd September in Stratford on Avon. I'm sure there will be some framers from Scotland coming down for it. Maybe you could entice one of them to take it back up North for you?

Now that's interesting.
Thanks for that.

The customer drove down to near Liverpool and we both met at a motorway services. He had to have an overnight stay.
The current plan is to build a crate and ship it on a pallet back to Scotland.
'Much more convenient.

Have you ever driven from Aberystwyth to mid-Wales, - in the rain?