Fine Art Swept Frames

The earliest antique frames were made of painted or stained oak in 16th century England. They remained popular for frame construction until the mid-17th century when supplanted by pine covered in gold gilt or finished in silver and lacquered. Producing ornament by pressing a pliable material into a mould then setting it on wooden framework was discovered to be an economical method of frame production.

Papier-mâché was the first pliable material introduced for this purpose in the 17th century. Compo, a composition of whiting, glue, resin and linseed oil, became popular in the 1790s and dominated frame making in the 19th century. These early frames, when and if they become available on the open market, cost many thousands of dollars and are not generally within the budget of the typical art lover; however, there is a solution. Fine art swept frames offered by Kings Galleries Fine Art have been carefully selected to match the excellence and quality of these early frames so that the frame enhances and reflects the quality and period of our fine art reproductions and classical styled originals. Our frames are not antique; they are what is known in the trade as antiqued and only the expert will be able to tell the difference; however, the difference is apparent in one discernable area - that being their price!

Stretchers

An important and much neglected component in an oil painting assemblage is the frame that supports and tensions the canvas. In the trade these are known as the bones; you may know them as the stretcher. There is a well known and well learnt by experience saying in the trade as well, "Good paintings need good bones."

However "good bones" are a complicated piece of woodwork with sophisticated joints and tensioning; the wood used must meet moisture content standards and the section width and profile should be sufficient and complex, all this adds considerably to the cost and good bones are not cheap! Most reproduction companies, if they offer stretching and framing at all, rely on off the shelf stretchers of poor quality - usually too thin to be adequate for their purpose. Most local framers utilize these same off the self materials, the result being a painting that quickly loosens and sags as the canvas acclimatizes naturally, with little or no mechanism for re-tensioning. Kings Galleries does not use off the shelf stretchers; we designed and commissioned the manufacture of our own 3" wide "Conservation Quality Stretcher" utilizing 1% moisture base wood material and a sophisticated profile that allows maximum tensioning and adjustment while maintaining minimum contact with the canvas area. What this means for you is that your paintings have good bones and because we manufacture on a scale sufficient to demand the best price from our specialist woodworking company we can pass on those cost benefits to you. No other company does this or can offer the all around quality that Kings galleries can offer you.

Remember our motto: This is not a product, it's fine art!

Canvas

The other obvious area for consideration is the surface upon which the painting is produced. Each period in painting history had a specific canvas type that was popular and lent a certain texture and feel the original. Wherever possible, Kings galleries utilizes similar or modern equivalents to the original period canvas, whether it is the fine duck twill of the 18th century French paintings of Francois Boucher or the heavy hemp sail cloth of 17th century Dutch art of Rembrandt, we have the knowledge and the supply to make sure that you get a work of art that is as historically authentic as possible. We are the only art studio to do this; no other company has the knowledge or frankly cares enough to offer it. So why do we go to such trouble when most would not know or care about the difference? Simple: This is not a product, it's fine art!