Probably Italy 1800-50 in the style of Tuscany 1500-50, walnut with gilding

Walnut frame carved in an architectural design

Bought for £3 from William Blundell Spence; Art Referee report No.4287 3/2/1869. Matthew Digby Wyatt, the referee recommending the purchase noted 'it will serve to enhance the importance of any finer work or art which may be placed in it'. Further on he noted 'Genuine old frames of this kind are getting rarer every day.'

This frame appears to be a careful, mid 19th-century pastiche, and was presumably made to meet the market demands for small, Tuscan style frames. This attribution is based on the relatively poor quality of carving, the relatively clean and straight surfaces of some (apparently original) elements. In addition, the fact that only a small area of potentially 16th century gilding is in evidence suggests the emulation of an aged surface, rather than the refreshing of a 16th century gilded scheme. Several other, very similar examples in public collections, believed to be 19th or 20th century, have been identified in recent years.

148-1869