Baroque picture frame

Reproduction of an Italian Baroque picture frame carved and gilt on ayous wood. This Bolognese early 17th-century Baroque frame is available for any painting size. Therefore, you can fit it with any painting.

Properties 

This reproduction frame is made with ayous and tulipwood combined together. We use ayous for the front side and tulipwood for the backside of the frame. As a result, we obtain the maximum strength with the minimum weight.

You can customize the rabbet width as you prefer. For instance, if you need to cover a bigger part of the painting you can ask to enlarge it. The rabbet depth instead, depends on the thickness of the painting. In most of our models, it is something between 1.5 to 4 cm. Sometimes even deeper due to structural reasons or under request.

Section width cm 12
Rabbet cm 1

Decorations of Baroque frame

Decorations are in wood pulp. We carve it when is dry, giving the ornates a very nice shape form. The use of wood pulp, which is 99% composed of wood and 1% of solvent, gives us the chance to contain the price at a very low level. The entire process is handmade, and you can watch the video displayed below to see the carving process.

If you wish to see the mounting process of the woodpulp decorations on this Baroque picture frame link here: mounting process

You can still order this frame completely carved on wood for a totally different price. To carve it on wood we would use Swiss pine, which is softwood. Ask for a quote, if you are interested in this reproduction of a reverse cassetta frame made completely of wood.

Patina (aging process)

“Patina” is an Italian word that refers to the tone of the final gilding of the frame. Making an astonishing Patina is one of the major skills of the gilder in order to make seem this reproduction of a Baroque frame an original one. In other words, it concerns the process of aging the gold finishing, trying to distress as much as possible the reproduction frame without exaggerating too much.

To complete the procedure, gilders use some different kinds of stones to hit the frame, creating some fake tiny broken parts all around the sides. Besides, gilders create fake wormholes to age the gilding and you will be able to see them analyzing deeply the picture detail attached above.

Another important part of the patina is gently rubbing off the gold surface with steel wool, trying to make the typical antique abrasions that you see in antique picture frames. In conclusion, any damaged little part of the frame is just a part of a bigger plan.

See below a video showing all the steps of the Patina.

More videos related to the aging process 

Explanation of the aging process
Distressing the gold surface
Rub off the gilding
Dark shellac
Applying shellac
Final result

CHEAPER MODELS OF BAROQUE PICTURE FRAME

See below for models of Baroque-style frames with similar structures but at a lower price.