The Frame Blog

Germany is teeming with antique frames this December: Norbert Theiss is holding an exhibition in Baden-Baden: ‘180 Historic Frames from the Renaissance to the NeoClassical’ (7^th December 2018 – 2^nd February 2019), and Conzen’s annual auction of antique frames will take place on 12^th December at 18.00 Central European Time.  Viewing at Conzen in Flingern, Fichtenstraße 56, D-40233, Düsseldorf, Germany, 7^th-12^th December 2018.

Norbert Theiss’s exhibition of frames is taking place at Lange Strasse 34, Hinterhaus, Baden-Baden 76530, and is open from 11.00 a.m-6.00 pm, Monday to Saturday, from 7 December-2 February. The catalogue is here.
No 7772: late 15th-early 16th century Italian cassetta with butt-jointed frieze; with scrolling foliate dripped pastiglia decoration on a punchwork ground; gilded; antique hanging hook; 14 x 10.7 cm.

No 0520: 16th-17th century Italian octagonal frame with imbricated leaf top edge; frieze with punchwork roses and scrolling foliage; imbricated leaf sight edge; gilded; 12.9 x 8.9 cm.

No 0848: 16th-early 17th century central Italian strigillated moulding frame; carved pinewood; with acanthus leaf corners; cable sight edge; gilded; old hanger; 124.8 x 87.4 cm.

No 2209: later 16th century Italian cassetta with entablature profile; gilded; old hanger; 49.5 x 35.2 cm.

No 2214: 16th-17th century Italian Mannerist-Baroque bolection frame in poplar wood, with outset corners; centred spiral ribbon at top edge; frieze with undulating S-scrolls on a punchwork ground with applied carved rosettes in the corners; acanthus leaf ogee; beaded sight edge; gilded; antique hanging hook; 41.5 x 31 cm.

No 0512: 16th-17th century Italian cabinetmaker’s frame, veneered with ebony, with canted frieze; decorative grotesque bronze hanger; 17 x 12.8 cm.

No 0496: late 17th-early 18th century Italian Baroque bolection frame; parcel-gilt and polychrome; old hanger; 17.1 x 13 cm.

No 0397: French Louis XVI architrave frame, last quarter 18th century; beading at sight edge; stamped on reverse ‘C. PEPIN’ for Claude Pepin, maître 22 January 1775; 56 x 47.5 cm.

No 0949: late 18th century French provincial architrave frame; oak; the frieze carved in the gesso with a repeat pattern of lozenges on a hatched ground, with acanthus leaf corners; gilded; 47.7 x 37.5 cm.

No 2231: 17th century Spanish Baroque pinewood frame with scrolling acanthus leaf corners; parcel-gilt and polychrome; antique hanger; 12.5 x 8.5 cm.

No 0952: 16th-17th century Flemish oak cassetta; parcel-gilt and painted black; inscribed in mordant gilding on the frieze,’Maria mater gratiae/ mater misericordiae tu nos/ ab hostes protege/ et hora mortis suscipe’  (Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, protect us from our foe and receive us at the hour of our death); 39.3 x 28.7 cm.

No 8392: 17th century Netherlandish cabinetmaker’s frame veneered in ebony; with ripple moulding on the top edge; fluted frieze; ripple moulding at the sight edge; antique hanger; 27.3 x 21 cm.

The Conzen auction is taking place live and online (the latter can be followed here, on 12^th December). There are 197 lots of frames, from the 16^th to the 20^th century, with estimates varying from a few hundred euros to several thousand.

Lot 14: a 17^th century Baroque Spanish or Italian bolection frame, with centred imbricated leaf back edge with leaf corners; frieze with verre églomisé panels with silvered foliate scrolls and gold & green birds (no birds on top panels), between leaf & beaded clasps; canted frieze with gilded foliate scrolls & birds (no birds on short sides) on red ground: the frieze decorations renewed; centred vertebrate leaf sight edge; 16 x 11.5 cm.; estimate €950

Lot 17: a Japanese lacquered frame, turn of the 20^th century plate frame, with marbled burgundy ground decorated in pale gold, ochre and black with a willow tree, rushes and two crows on the top rail; contemporary hanger; 19.4 x 25.3 cm.; estimate €450

Lot 41: a 19^th century Spanish bolection frame, covered in leather tooled with a repoussé pattern in golden brown on silver of scrolling foliage with strapwork cartouche centres on the long sides; 28.5 x 22.3 cm.; stamped ‘Meryan’ on reverse; estimate €400

Lot 76: a late 17^th–early 18^th century Baroque Italian ‘Salvator Rosa’ frame, parcel-gilt on stained & polished walnut; acanthus leaf-&-shield at back edge; centred ribbon-&-stave; acanthus-&-shield at sight edge; old hanger; 54 x 41.6 cm.; estimate €3,000

Lot 88: a 16^th century Italian Mannerist silvered bolection frame, with centred raking stopped channel fluting at the sight edge, with tear-drop cabochon centres and leaf corners; acanthus leaf-&-flower ogee; ovolo chain; acanthus leaf back edge with shaped contour; old hanger; 62.7 x 46.4 cm.; estimate €3,300

Lot 149: a 17^th century Spanish cassetta with reverse architrave profile; 61.9 x 49.7 cm.; estimate €1,600

Lot 169: a French Biedermeier frame, 1820s-30s; walnut, inlaid with fans at the corners; 30.9 x 24.8 cm.; estimate €250