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18th Century Picture Frames

The pictures above show 18th century picture frames for sale. As the 1700s contains in itself at least three different artistic styles, our collection of frames is very diversified. Of course, styles evolve one from another by a transition process. For this reason, it is difficult to trace rigid thresholds to categorize artistic movements. The purpose of this category product page is to join together the entire body of the 18th century frame styles per era. Thus, they are displayed independently from the region of appurtenance and the style.

Above the page, you find Roman, Venetian, Bolognese, Spanish, and French 18th century frames for sale. We present them in different finishings, including silver. Late Baroque frames coexist with Louis XV and Louis XVI models. French and Italian frames are for sure the main characters of this era.

roman and bolognese models

Collectors call 18th century Roman frames with two specific labels. The first is Maratta frames and the second is Salvator Rosa frames. Even though the labels are two, the style remains the same, and it’s the most popular among Italian models.

Maratta frames were the Roman approach to the Rococo movement, which for sure in France had developed quite differently. Thus, we can affirm that French Rococo art influenced only partially the Italian ground. In fact, the region that really embraced the Rocaille art maintaining it as a strong reference was only Venice.

The Venetians got inspired by the magnificence of Louis XV style frames creating an original alternative. During 18th century, Venice developed a lot of Rococo frames for paintings and mirrors. Carvers looked at the French Rocaille movement inserting in their works pattern decorations in a very creative way. In the history of frames, we categorize these specific works under the label of “Barocchetto“.

Venice was not the only protagonist of the Italian Barocchetto style. The town of Bologna gave birth to more sober samples for the same trend. Follow the links below to see two typical models of 18th century Bolognese frames.

Cod. 031
Cod. 032

Venetian 18th Century Picture Frames

As previously discussed, Venice produced many 18th century frames for paintings. The most popular model among Venetian style patterns is our cod. 059. Experts labeled it as a Canaletto frame because it appeared very often with Canalettos’ paintings.

Another interesting model of Venetian 18th century frames is our cod. 034. Its shape is considerably similar to French frames. Notice the rectangular structure with the four corners quite out of the main edge. That is a recognizable sign of Rocaille art. We know that is a Venetian model just because of its specific ornates.

Cod. 039 is a model that deserves our attention as well. Indeed, it consists of the most original result of Rococo Venetian art. The profile, which starts high near the painting, gets low when approximating the external edge. That is a distinctive sign. Even the green lacquer and the ornates painted with gold are a distinctive treat.

French 18th Century Frames

France led the artistic scene of Europe for a long period. For this reason, there is plenty of French frames available in the global market. As a compact kingdom, during the governance of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Napoleon in the phase of the Empire, France produced astonishing mirror frames and a few remarkable models of frames for paintings.

Here we’re going to analyze the typical French 18th century frames. From the Baroque to Rococo style they maintain a great homogeneity. The evolution of the two movements went so smoothly that it is hard to limit the threshold between them.

Contrary to what happened in Italy, the French frames show a consolidated nation and a compact intention of governance. One can see French models from the late 1600s to the late 1700s observing a few differences in the main structure. Even though they are not so diverse, they still remain among the best examples of 18th-century frames for paintings.

See below a couple of representative models of French frames of the 1700s.

Cod. 029
Cod. 036