SECESSION-STYLE PICTURE FRAME

Description

SECESSION-STYLE PICTURE FRAME
Gilt wood and composition picture frame, 29 3/8" x 33 1/4", 1"-wide gilt wood fillet; picture opening at frame back (rabbet-to-rabbet, within the fillet), 20 1/8" x 24", the rabbet 1/4-deep (were the fillet removed, picture opening would be approximately 22" x 26", the rabbet approximately 3/8"-deep). (The frame, turned 90-degrees (for a vertical-format painting), renders the foregoing dimensions in reverse.) Frame width, 5" (inclusive of fillet); frame depth, 1 3/4". Three scrolled rails: narrow inner; raised, rolled, narrow middle; wide outer. Conventionalized, foliate cornerpieces span the middle and outer rails. A 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece of composition is lifted at the inner edge of the left outer rail's lower center; a 3/8"-diameter piece of composition is lifted at the same rail's outer edge (2" below the cornerpiece); numerous splits to the composition at the outer rail (perpendicular to the scrolled lines, most spanning the width): 20 at the upper edge, 25 at the lower edge, 17 at the left edge, 15 right edge (counts are approximate); several splits to the composition at the raised, rolled middle rail (perpendicular to the scrolled lines, across a portion of the width), the splits (with four exceptions) hairline and discreet; the red bole underpainting is exposed at each of the four cornerpieces' centered, globe-shaped terminus; slight wear to the gilding at the outer (1/2"-thick) frame edge. The fillet has much patina, perhaps applied, perhaps (like the frame's fine process of aging) earned. The frameback is securely strung, for hanging the picture. Weight: approximately 15 pounds (prior to preparation for shipping). Undated; perhaps, early 20th-century.