How Ornate Picture Frames Are Made Using Different Frame Making Techniques

There are several different types of ornate picture frames. They include hand-carved ornaments made from solid wood, handmade composition ornaments applied to a pre-attached frame, machine-made component frames, and mechanically embossed wood ornaments.

The frames have been made of solid wood for several thousand years. There are examples from Ancient Egypt and there is a strong link between the Roman Catholic Church and ornate framed religious artwork for at least the last 1000 years. The Egyptians discovered methods of applying gold leaf to wood by applying a log made of Armenian clay. The clay provided a smooth base on which the gold leaf could be applied, and the red color of the log imparted a delicious shine to the thin layer of gold applied over it. Modern gilding still uses identical methods to fix gold leaf to wood.

In early European examples, ornaments were carved to match the architecture of the time. The frames were often designed by the artist in consultation with the artisan framer. In many examples, the frame was made before the artwork was painted. The panels and canvases that the artist would prepare used similar materials such as animal glues combined with calcium carbonate or chalk to create a solid surface to begin painting.

The carved frames were often applied in plaster with the same mixture of rabbit fur glue, water, damped plaster, and chalk. The plaster mixture was applied warm in a water bath and built up in several layers. The final coats before gilding were done with a mixture of logs where lowlights were often covered with an ocher-yellow clay and the highlights were reddish tones. The yellow hue provided a mask where the hollow section of the ornament can be left ungrowned. It was difficult to get the gold leaf into each hole, so the yellow hue helped disguise the missing leaf.

Frames wanted to make ornate frames faster and also wanted to replicate a particular design to save time from the laborious task of carving, so they developed a mix called “compo”. The composition, as it was known, was a secret recipe basically made from rock resin or rosin that had been melted with raw linseed oil. This molten resin mixture was then combined with hot rabbit fur glue and mixed rapidly to emulsify the oil and water mixture. As the component was mixed, a filler in the form of powdered chalk or whiting was added to give the material body.

The composition could be prepared in a large batch and stored as bricks and then heated and reactivated in a flexible molding compound.

The ornaments can then be carved once and then either by carving as a negative mold or by copying the ornament using molten shellac or cast resin, they can be copied by pressing the hot component into the mold and then applying the flexible ornament to the frame before. it had grown cold and hardened.

Many replica frames are still made today using the compositing method.

The modern use of silicone has allowed easy reproduction of carved ornaments, although there are several practitioners of the ancient methods using traditional materials.

The ornate sweep frame where an ornament is applied to a wooden base and then gilded is a common example. The gilding in this case is usually done with Schlagmetal or Dutch sheet metal. An imitation gold made from a mixture of copper and nickel. Schlagmetal is applied using an oil gilding method in which a slow drying varnish is applied to the prepared frame and then after a set time, just before the varnish is completely dry, the sheet is applied to the surface . If the sheet is applied too early, the finish is dull and lifeless, but when the time is right a shiny gold surface is achieved. This type of gilding must be protected with layers of shellac and is also often varnished to prevent tarnishing.

Most commercial gold frames are made with artificial gold leaf such as schlagmetal due to the low cost of the material and the faster application of finishing and preparation of the underlying wood.

Modern ornate gold frames that can be purchased in lengths are usually made on a mechanical typesetting machine. The machine consists of a feeder-type system in which a wooden profile is drawn through the machine passing under a large embossing wheel that has the pattern engraved on it. A modern mix of synthetic composites or wood neck, very similar to a wet mix of MDF, is pumped over the frame just before going under the stamping wheel. The wheel stamps the pattern into the mix as the wood passes through the machine.

The profiles are then dried and can be finished in various ways, from painting, gilding or synthetic laminating with a hot stamping laminating machine. The sheets are available in a wide range of finishes that mimic all types of finishes.

The other common method of producing ornamental wood finish frames is by using an embossing machine. The embossing machine is similar to the compounding machine, but instead of applying a layer of compound to the frame, the wheel with the pattern is heated by a torch type installation. The wheel is gradually heated by turning it through the gas flame until it is hot enough to burn the wood. The pattern is then embossed on the wooden frame trim under heat and pressure. This type of frame is usually stained a dark color to help hide strange burn marks.

Different molding techniques are being developed all the time for modern reproduction of ornate picture frames. These methods generally involve mass reproduction of a particular design just to reach a specific price that is acceptable to the market. They are generally not used to make unique handmade frames to suit individual works of art.

Ancient methods are worth understanding and appreciating that techniques developed over the centuries have a place of value. A modern picture frame can last a century, but this is often unlikely, whereas traditionally crafted antique frames have lasted a millennium.

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