Artcurial: sale of antique frames in Paris, February 2021

An auction of more than a hundred lots of antique frames of various periods and nationalities will be held by Artcurial on 11 February 2021: these are combined with Old Master and 19th century paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Some examples are included here; for the e-catalogue see Old Master & XIXth century art. 

Lot 6: a Netherlandish (?) collector’s frame in Louis XIV style, going on Régence; late 17th-early 18th century; carved & gilded (regilded) oak; ogee profile with projecting corners & centres; with scrolling foliated strapwork and trailing florets on a cross-hatched ground, between strapwork-&- shell cartouches holding sunflower rosettes in a beaded border on a diapered ground in the corners; with vases and floral festoons in strapwork cartouches at the centres, and triple-plumed demi-centres; sanded frieze; spiral leaf-bound fasces at the sight edge; name plate for Ostade to one side (= previous orientation was landscape); 114 x 88.5 cm., estimate: €3,500-4,500 

Lot 16: a southern French or north Italian Louis XIII bunched-leaf frame; mid-17th century; carved & gilded limewood; convex and concave profile; a torus at the top edge with bunched leaves including bay leaves-&-berries, ivy leaves, olives & olive leaves, on a hazzled ground with acanthus corners; with panels of leaf sprigs on a hazzled ground between plain reposes in the hollow; a spiral ribbon on a hazzled ground; stylized leaf tips on a hazzled ground at the sight edge; 89.5 x 115 cm.; estimate: €3,500-4,500

Lot 17: a straight-edged French Louis XV hollow frame; second third 18th century; carved giltwood; centred ribbon-bound top edge; small sanded frieze; 59 x 72 cm.; estimate: €1,200-1,800

Lot 22: a French Louis XVI baguette frame; last third 18th century; ogee to central hollow; carved and gilded limewood, the hollow ebonized and polished; pearls beneath the top fillet; rais-de-coeur at the sight edge; 65 x 43 cm.; estimate: €400-600

Lot 26: a French Louis XIII-XIV pierced corner frame; mid-17th century; convex profile; carved and gilded oak; with flowered back edge; foliate strapwork and fanned hatched lambrequin corners and centres, set on shaped cross-hatched panels with low-relief floral rinceaux between plain reposes; undulating leaves, strapwork and leaf-buds on a hazzled ground at the sight edge; 130 x 97 cm.; estimate:€3,500-4,500

Lot 29: a French baguette frame; 18th century; with ogee profile; parcel-gilt oak with painted ogee; decorated with carved trophies of the sculptor’s, mason’s, and architect’s art: with protractor, set-square, folding rule, compasses, dividers, classical column, torches, hammer, chisel, axe, spade, ladder, plumb weight, skull and crossbones, bow of ribbon at crest: possibly intended to hold the plans or elevation of a house, chapel or funerary monument; 56.5 x 64.5 cm.; estimate: €1,000-1,500

Lot 30: an Italian Baroque leaf frame; 18th century; carved giltwood; overlaid with branches of bay leaves-&-berries, with crossed sprigs of bay leaves at the centres; 24 x 31 cm.; estimate: €500-700

Lot 36: a French Louis XIII-XIV apsidal frame in the style of César Bagard of Nancy (1620-1709); second half 17th century; cushion profile in stained & polished cherry wood; with stylized leaf-tip back edge; the cushion carved overall with scrolling foliation, florets and characteristically Bagard-like daisies; designed to hold a carved crucifix or a sacred painting; 71.5 x 39 cm.; estimate: €2,500-3,500

Lot 44: a French Second Empire Barbizon frame; second half 19th century; deep stepped and ogee profile; applied plaster decoration; gilded; with egg-&-dart at the back edge; bunched centred olives and ?olive leaves at the top edge; cross-cut acanthus ogee; pearls; Greek fret at sight edge; 59 x 98 cm.; estimate: €600-800

Lot 45: a French Second Empire Barbizon frame; second half 19th century; deep stepped and ogee profile; applied plaster decoration; gilded; with ovolo chain at the back edge; bunched centred bay leaves-&-berries at the top edge; cross-cut acanthus ogee; pearls; leaf-tip sight edge; 48 x 98.5 cm.; estimate: €600-800

Lot 47: a pair of Italian Baroque reverse frames; 18th century; bolection profile with outer frieze; carved, parcel gilt (regilded) and painted black; with scrolling foliate & palmette corners and scrolled centres in mordant gilding; 45.5 x 27 cm.; estimate: €2,500-3,500

Lot 50: a Continental or British frame (an ‘artist’s frame’), in the style of late Whistler designs married with a Degas reeded frame; late 19th or early 20th century; convex stepped profile with alternating reeded mouldings and plain friezes; off-white finish; 59 x 48 cm., estimate: €600-800

Lot 66: a German, middle European or transalpine looking-glass frame; 17th century or later; reverse stepped profile; ebonized and polished; with six orders of ripple and interrupted ripple mouldings; mounted with a replacement mirrored plate; 70.5 x 51 cm., estimate: €3,500-4,500

Lot 67: a Spanish cassetta; most probably 17th century; parcel-gilt, painted black & polished; with shaped gilded panels in the corners, inscribed with scrolling foliage, lilies and small sunflowers on a textured ground; in the top & bottom centres with scrolling foliage and sunflowers; in the lateral centres with scrolling foliage and buds;  109 x 84 cm.; estimate: €2,000-3,000

Lot 73: a Baroque Italian frame (Emilian/ Bolognese); 17th century; bolection profile in carved and gilded limewood; with a spiral ribbon; centred imbricated bay leaf moulding at the sight edge; 97 x 126 cm.; estimate: €8,000-12,000

Lot 78: a Baroque Italian marbled frame; 17th century; reverse profile with wide frieze; parcel gilt with restored finish in faux marbre of black figured with grey; 56 x 43 cm.; estimate: €2,800-3,500

Lot 80: a pair of Baroque Roman frames (ovals based on the ‘Savator Rosa’ pattern); 18th century; hollow profiles in carved giltwood; with egg-&-dart back edge; acanthus scrolls on the top edge; acanthus-&-shield at the sight edge; 68 x 49 cm.; estimate: €3,000-4,000

Lot 85: a small Venetian aedicular frame for domestic devotions; 16th century; carved pinewood and pastiglia; gilded and polychrome; with vertebrate candelabrum ornament at the back edge; detached baluster columns on crested plinths, supporting owner shields in red and gold; entablature and predella friezes with scrolling foliage, roses and birds, the entablature with dentils; inner frieze with scrolling foliage in mordant gilding on a black (?dark blue) ground; with shaped beads at the sight edge; 12.2 x 16.7 cm.; estimate: €3,000-4,000

Lot 86: an Italian reverse cassetta; late 16th-17th century; parcel gilt and painted black; with scrolling arabesque ornament in mordant gilding in the corners of the frieze; antique hooked hanger; 37 x 53.5 cm.; estimate: €4,000-6,000