Frames made to
historic models
Not evoked but rebuilt: profile by profile, in the technique these frames were made for. Our speciality is the Flemish ripple moulding - we build every period.
What we build
We build frames to historic models across the periods: the Flemish and Dutch frame of the seventeenth century, the Italian cassetta, the carved and gilded French frame, the clear profile of the Biedermeier, the historicism of the nineteenth century. Alongside these, mirror frames and restrained profiles in fine timbers for contemporary work.
Our speciality is the Flemish ripple moulding. Not because the others are less interesting, but because this type is the most demanding to make and therefore hardly anyone builds it any more. Whoever masters the ripple has no trouble with the rest.
The ripple moulding - why almost nobody builds it
Around 1600 a type of frame emerged in the Low Countries that exists in this form nowhere else: the ripple moulding frame. Ebony or ebonised fruitwood, mitred, and across the whole moulding a regular wave that runs on over edges and hollows.
That wave is not carved. It is produced on a machine built for the purpose, in which the workpiece travels against the cutter along a template - every wave exactly like the last, over metres of moulding. Historic ripple moulding machines survive only in isolated examples. Anyone who wants to build such frames today has therefore to solve the machine question first. That is where most attempts fail, and it is why one sees so many "Flemish" frames whose ripple is in truth routed, cast or applied.
We have developed our own process for it. The result is a continuous moulding in solid timber - no applied profile, no imitation in composition.
What a frame is built for
Old Master paintings. An old painting was never conceived without a frame. The frame helps determine how deep the pictorial space reads, how the light falls on the panel, and how the work sits in the room. A wrong frame damages nothing of the substance and yet everything of the effect. Where the original frame is lost, a reconstruction gives the painting back what it was painted for.
Mirrors. With a mirror the frame carries the whole object - there is no image competing with it for attention. People look correspondingly closely. A mirror in a historic interior, above a fireplace or in an enfilade, is one of the most rewarding commissions we receive.
Modern and contemporary art. Here two routes are open and both work. The restrained profile in a fine timber, which holds the work and otherwise keeps out of the way. Or the deliberate contrast: a historic frame type around a present-day work - a decision long used in collections and exhibitions, and stronger than any neutral moulding. Which route holds is decided by the work, not by a rule.
Who buys such frames
Collectors above all, looking for the final piece for a particular painting - not simply a frame that fits, but one that exists nowhere else in this form. Which is why they are built to measure, to the work and to what the collector has in mind.
Museums as well, needing a frame for a new acquisition or a work from the collection where the framing has to carry the picture. An inexpensive copy does not manage that: it quotes the form and leaves out what matters. Where the frame has a say in how a work is read, institutions turn to the piece built by hand.
The reason is the same in both cases. A frame of this making is a work of art in its own right, and it is treated as one.
Selected pieces hang in private hands in the Palatinate. They can be seen at the Rhodter Schlössel in Rhodt unter Rietburg.
Copy, reconstruction, original design
Copy from a model. An original exists - as a frame, on loan, or accessible in a collection. We take off the profile and the dimensions and build to them. That is the most accurate and at the same time the most straightforward case.
Reconstruction. The original frame is lost. We then work from what is documented: comparable pieces from the same workshop or period, historic depictions, traces on the support. We record what is reconstructed and what is supplied - a frame that claims more than the sources carry is of no use to a collection.
Original design. A new frame within the historic vocabulary, for a work that never had, or could have had, a contemporary frame. Here we design the profile and match it to the painting.
Material, and the things one notices late
True ebony reached the Netherlands through maritime trade and was expensive; even then fruitwood - usually pear - was ebonised and used instead. The two behave entirely differently under the tool, and they look different on the finished frame. Which is right is decided by the model, not by the budget. With gilded frames the same holds for ground, bole and leaf.
Then come the things one notices only on closer inspection: the depth and sequence of the hollows, the ratio of sight width to build height, the treatment of the corners, the degree of sheen, and the question whether the frame should carry an aged or a fresh surface. A frame in which one of these is wrong looks wrong, without one being able to say immediately why.
Old Master paintings
Frames and reconstructions for panel and canvas - for museums, collections and the art trade.
Mirrors
Mirror frames to a historic model or as an original design, for interiors and listed buildings.
Modern art
Restrained profiles in fine timbers - or the deliberate contrast of a historic frame type.
Not every frame has to be built
On loan
Free of charge for museums, six months at a time - carriage and insurance are borne by the borrowing institution.
For sale
Taken on permanently — with a certificate of authenticity from the workshop recording timber, construction and every dimension.
Frequently asked questions
Three things are enough at first: the outer dimensions of the support, its thickness, and a photograph of the work. If a model exists - a frame, a comparable piece, an illustration - send it too. Rebate size, sight width and build height we settle together; that is the part which decides whether the frame later belongs to the painting or merely stands in front of it.
No. That is where our speciality lies, because the ripple moulding is the hardest case - but we build every period: Italian cassetta, French carved and gilded frames, Biedermeier, historicism, together with mirror frames and plain profiles for contemporary work. Tell us what it is about and we will say what suits.
Yes, and they are often the most interesting commissions. Two routes are open: a restrained profile in a fine timber that holds the work and otherwise keeps out of the way - or the deliberate contrast, a historic frame type around a present-day work. That is not a makeshift but a decision long used in collections.
Yes. With a mirror the frame carries the whole object, and people look correspondingly closely. We build to a historic model or design for the place - above a fireplace, in an enfilade, on a staircase. For the glass we work with whatever you specify, from plain mirror glass to hand-made glasses.
Yes, and we recommend it for any commission beyond a straightforward copy. A sample length of the profile, in the intended timber and finish, shows more in five minutes than any drawing. With reconstructions, the sample is the point at which a collection decides how far the approximation to the model should go.
In both, according to the model. Historically true ebony was available only for the most costly frames; ebonised pear was already the usual substitute in the seventeenth century and is therefore often the historically more accurate choice, not merely the cheaper one. What is right in a given case we settle against the model.
Yes. How far the ageing should go is a decision for the collection, not a matter of craft: a frame hanging beside original pieces should usually blend in; a frame meant to read as a recognisable addition should not. We do both, and we record what was done.
That depends on the profile, the size, and whether a model exists. It can only be answered honestly once we know the profile - ripple mouldings take more time in preparation than in execution. Tell us your date and we will say whether it can be held, before you plan around it.
Yes. Selected pieces can be seen at the Rhodter Schlössel in Rhodt unter Rietburg. Beyond that we show existing frames by arrangement and send photographs of individual profiles and corner solutions on request. For museums and collections we also come to you where an object needs to be assessed on site.
Get in touch
Have a project in mind? We look forward to hearing from you.