The Frame Blog

This auction will be held by Van Ham Fine Art in Cologne at 3.00 pm local time on Friday 17 November. It includes a selection of sixty-eight antique frames, four of which will be included in the live auction (shown below, and indicated), whilst the rest will be in the online sale only, and can be bid for between 10-23 November (four of these are also shown below).

These are frames from a single collection which was begun in the 1970s, and are fine examples of their respective styles; they are also notable for their excellent original condition, being almost entirely untouched. Where any restorations have been made, these are few, meticulously carried out, and do not impinge upon the character or the integrity of the frame. The collector to whom they belong was searching for a looking-glass for his apartment well over forty years ago, when the antique frames he found inspired him to begin acquiring the best specimens available, and later to build his career around providing historic frames to art collectors and museums.

This particular group dates from the 16^th–18^th century, is of very high quality, and comprises mainly Spanish and Italian frames with some French and Netherlandish examples. They are relatively small-scale, designed for cabinet paintings, but also include a few larger frames. They are also exceptionally varied in both form and ornament, providing an overview in a brief compass of the major styles from a period when the arts of carving, gilding and veneering can be said to have reached their apogee of skill and beauty.

 
1    Lot 1243: a 16^th century Bolognese cassetta, carved, with original gilding; entablature profile; butt-jointed frieze; imbricated husk moulding on back edge; Bolognese half-flower on top edge; enriched astragal-&-triple bead; centred and bound garland of bay leaves, with imbricated husk moulding at sight edge; 60.5 x 48 cm., width of rail 17 cm., overall dimensions 93.5 x 81.5 cm.; antique hanger. Est. : €3,500-4,000
Live auction

2    Lot 1242: a 17^th century Netherlandish cabinetmaker’s frame, worked with ebony veneer; stepped and canted profile with wide frieze; ripple moulding below top edge; variation on a basketweave moulding on frieze; ripple moulding at sight edge; 40 x 34 cm., width of rail 17 cm., overall dimensions 74 x 68 cm. Est.: €2,800-3,300
Live auction

3    Lot 1240: a 16^th century Italian cassetta, carved, with original gilding and polychromy; entablature profile, with an unusual stretched egg-&-dart moulding (the dart enriched with a small ovolo) beneath the top edge; a broken fillet between guttae and dentils; the frieze carved with scrolling lilies centred with small mascarons, picked out in translucent red and green; astragal composed of long cabochons cradled in leaves; scalloping at the sight edge; 43.5 x 30.5 cm., width of rail 12.5 cm., overall dimensions 69 x 56 cm. Est.: €3,000-3,500
Live auction

4    Lot 22: a 16^th century North Italian (Piedmontese) reverse compound profile frame, carved and gilded; with leaf-&-dart back edge; garland of bellflowers (with leaf centres) running from top centre to bottom centre; garland of bay leaves-&-berries on a hazzled ground running from top centre to bottom centre, with acanthus leaf corners and centres on the long sides; spiral ribbon running from top centre to bottom centre on a hazzled ground at sight edge; 28 x 21.5 cm., width of rail 12.5 cm., overall dimensions 52 x 45.5 cm.; old hanger. Est.: €2,000-2,500
Online auction only

5    Lot 24: a 16^th-17^th century Spanish Mannerist ‘Herrera’ frame, carved and gilded; entablature profile; cotton reel-&-flute at top edge; flute-&-astragal at sight edge; 31.5 x 24.5 cm., width of rail 8.5 cm., overall dimensions 48 x 41 cm. Est.: €2,200-2,600
Online auction only

6    Lot 37: a 17^th century North Italian (Piedmontese) torus frame, carved and gilded; with garland of bay leaves-&-berries, bound with crossed ribbons at the centres of the short sides, and acanthus corners; acanthus leaf ogee at the sight edge; 20.5 x 14.5 cm., width of rail 9.5 cm., overall dimensions 39 x 33 cm. Est.: €1,000-1,500
Online auction only

7    Lot 1241: an early 16^th century Italian (Tuscan?) proto-Mannerist frame, carved, with original gilding; reverse profile; pierced and scrolling outer contour, composed of lilies springing from tied and voluted centres, with tongue-like petals morphing into fleur-de-lys corners; frieze bisected by a narrow astragal; garland of bound and centred bay leaves with trefoil corners at the sight edge; 20.5 x 16 cm., width of rail 10 cm., overall dimensions 40 x 34 cm. Est.: €2,800-3,200
Live auction

8    Lot 63: a 16^th– 17^th century Italian (Roman?) miniature Mannerist tabernacle frame, veneered with ebony, in cassetta form with pediment and apron; architrave profile; open triangular pediment capped with small plinth (which may have held a finial, ball or vase) and enriched with a faux-marbre painted paper plaque; supporting lateral S-scrolled modillions at the upper corners; scrolled apron with framed blank plaque (possibly missing an ornamental drop below); 11 x 7.5 cm., depth of rail 3 cm., overall dimensions 28.5 x 19 cm. Est.: €1,200-1,600
Online auction only

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For information on the sale, contact Anica Beil (Head of Department)
tel.: +49 221 92 58 62 322 email: a.beil@van-ham.com

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