Frame It!

 

QUESTION: I love collecting older works of art—not the type found in galleries and museums, but those found in flea markets, antique shops and shows. While some come with frames, many don’t. And those that do have frames often don’t look right in them. How can I tell what type of frame should go with a particular work of art? How have frames changed over the centuries? How does the age of a frame relate to the art work?

ANSWER: Most people who purchase older art works don’t bother to change the frames that come with them, even if they aren’t the best for the art works they surround. 

Most two-dimensional antique and vintage art works----paintings, posters, and prints---had frames, but it’s not unusual for them to be sold without them. Often the existing frame is an inappropriate replacement, or isn’t in perfect condition. While restoring a frame is often a simple procedure, finding the right one can be as time-consuming and challenging as discovering the work of art, itself.

An overwhelming frame on a delicate painting robs it completely of the experience of the delicacy, and conversely, a painting that’s strong and powerful, for example, will be  short-changed by a thin, delicate, fancy frame.

Quilts, tapestries, murals, wood and paper panels seldom need a frame. A frame is, however, an essential for any other art form which existed since the Middle Ages when the frame was integral to the art. Cabinetmakers, architects, gilders, and wood carvers made the first frames in 15th-century Italy. From Italy the craft of frame making spread throughout Europe. 

Some early settlers to America brought with them framed works of art, introducing the craft and frame designs of 16th- and 17th-century France, England, Holland, Spain and Portugal to the Colonies. The earliest frames were not only decorative, but also reflected the tastes and fashions of the time and often the artist's concept of what was right for his work.

During the American Federal Period from the late 18th- and early 19th-century, wealth increased for many who then sought the better things in life. The larger pictures that people hung singly and the groupings of smaller works were frequently completed with simply ornamented gilt frames that mirrored the understated furniture of the period.

Few homes were without pictures through the classically dominated Empire period from 1810 to 1830. Despite frequently being hung high above eye level, the paintings boasted elegant frames of gilt moldings, later in the period, when Empire furniture had become more elaborate and less graceful, frames, too, became extravagant featuring ornately carved plaster and lots of gilding. The exceptions were the narrow black frames used for prints. As the Victorian period embraced the American scene and became ever more ornate, frames followed suit.

By the middle of the 19th century, frame making had become a well-established industry in America. Most were mass-produced and lacked the fine quality and individual creativity of handcrafted ones.

For those seeking to collect works of two-dimensional art, a knowledge of frames— their history, styles, makers, design and material details—is very important. This can be accomplished by learning from dealers in fine frames, frames restorers, and museum curators, as well as doing a lot of reading and studying the art works in museums to see how and which frames have been used.

While choosing the wrong frame doesn’t physically damage a work of art, it damages it aesthetically. To ensure that a particular art work has the right frame, the date of the painting should match the date of the frame. During the late Victorian era, the preferred frames were wide and heavily embellished. During the years of the late 19th-century Aesthetic Movement, decorative frames continued to be used but were flatter. Another consideration should be the color of the frame appropriate to the date of the art work. 

The frame’s width depends on whether a work of art has a busy or a simple composition. Fancier frames complement busy art works while simple ones do the same for simple works of art. 

The frame should always complement or enhance the work of art it surrounds. It should never go with the style of the room that it’s in.. If the art work doesn’t fit in that room, it doesn’t belong there. 

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Are All Cast-Iron Toys Alike?

QUESTION: I’ve recently become interested in collecting cast-iron toys. But there seem to be so many new ones out there, it’s difficult to tell the difference between the new and the old. Can you give me some pointers on what to look for? I believe it would be easy to get ripped off when buying toys for my new collection.

ANSWER: You have to be very careful when buying cast-iron toys. Even knowledgeable dealers often can’t tell the difference between new ones and old ones. And if you’re buying them at auction sites online, you need to know a few things to prevent yourself from getting ripped off.

Cast iron was the 19th-century equivalent of today's plastics—it was cheap, could be made in almost any shape, and identical pieces could be mass-produced in molds. Unfortunately, those reasons are why so many toys get reproduced in cast iron. Although manufacturers produce new cast iron toys in the same way as originals, there are certain differences between originals and reproductions.

Foundries make most cast-iron toys using a method called sand casting which begins with a full-sized, three-dimensional model or master pattern which the foundry worker pushes into the sand to make an impression. Some foundry workers place the master pattern in a wooden box, or casting frame, then pack fine sand, called casting sand, around the pattern. Each mold requires two frames—one frame for the top half of the mold and another for the bottom. Most makers use brass or bronze masters for toy molds for better detail and longer life.
                           
The worker locks the casting frame halves together, then pours molten iron into the mold. The iron runs into the hollow impression and forms a copy of the master pattern. After cooling, he separates the frames and removes the cast piece for finishing. Most foundries use sand molds only once since the impression deteriorates when the worker pours iron into it. However, some can be used several times. The number of times a mold can be used depends on the skill of the worker, the complexity of the master pattern, and the level of quality acceptable in the finished casting.
   
Two other basic sand-casting terms—runner and gate—can help determine when the casting occurred by the marks they leave. A runner is a channel running through the mold which feeds molten metal into the individual castings. The gate is the point where the runner castings branch off into the casting.

The casting sand also allows for several important differences between new and old cast iron toys. Casting sand used in original molds was generally finer than the casting sand used today. This means that old cast iron almost always has a smoother surface than new castings made with coarser sand. The surface of old cast iron both looks smooth and feels smooth to the touch—something that’s impossible to tell when purchasing cast-iron toys online. New cast iron usually has small prickly bumps that rise above the surface and holes or pits that go below the surface. The rough texture is the most obvious on unpainted surfaces, such as the inside or underside of toys.

A second major difference caused by the casting sand is the amount of detail in new and old toys. The finer the sand, the tighter it could be packed around the master pattern, which transferred more and smaller details to the mold. Old castings almost always have sharper lines and more detail while newer ones are less sharp, blurred, and lack the fine details found in old pieces cast with finer sand.

Makers of reproductions, on the other hand, use actual antique toys as master patterns or copies of original toys or copies of copies. Cast iron shrinks 3/32  to 1/8 of an inch per foot between mold and casting. This means each time a maker copies a piece a certain amount of distortion occurs which results in loss of detail. Even if the foundry worker takes apart an older piece and uses it as a pattern, the reproduction will be smaller than the original due to normal shrinkage.

Another difference between old and new cast iron toys is the amount of hand finishing. Almost all old pieces had at least some hand finishing, while most reproductions have none. Evidence of this occurs in matching halves of original cast iron toys which makers fitted together by hand filing or at least had the edges tumbled smooth in a machine: This extra attention to fit produced a tight seam in original cast iron toys.

On the other hand, the seams in new cast iron are often loose, with 1/8-inch gaps or more. Worker’s perform what little finishing they do on reproductions with modern high-speed production tools, which leave obvious grinding marks. Whenever these marks appear, especially if they’re bright and shiny with no patina, it pretty much guarantees the piece is a reproduction.

The way decorators painted old and new toys is another indication of age. They used fairly heavy oil-based enamel paint on older ones and much thinner paint, usually a water-based acrylic, on newer ones. Also, they usually dipped the older cast-iron toys, rather than used a brush to apply the paint. Today, decorators use air-powered spray guns to speed production.

The use of thicker paint and the heavier coatings of paint produced by dipping produces a distinctive wear pattern in original painted cast iron toys. Dipping also leaves paint on surfaces that are hard to reach with a spray gun, such as inside surfaces, hidden angles, and along the edges where seams meet. Toy banks, for example, usually show paint on both inner and outer edges of the coin slot. Likewise, old paint around a coin slot should show the typical ragged paint chips which would occur with normal wear.

New, thin paint on reproductions doesn’t chip even if deliberately gouged.  Most chips in old paint also show different layers of rusty brown or black which appear in the order the decorator applied them.

Even unpainted, old cast iron appears a different color than new cast iron. Old iron usually looks dark brown or even black, while new cast iron is typically gray or a dirty silver color.