PICTURE FRAMING MAGAZINE Ornamentation In Frame Design

Marcus Vitruvius Polio (90-20 B.C.E.),
known simply as “Vitruvius,” said it best:
“Good architectural design is composed of
three important qualities: strength, utility,
and aesthetic effect.” (In his 1624 translation,
Sir Henry Wooton (1568-1639) quaintly
changed this to “Firmness, Commodity, and
Delight.”) The rule applies to framemaking as
much as it does to architecture.
Since the decorative arts arise from architecture,
it stands to reason that the same standards
apply to the design and construction of
picture frames. A frame must be fabricated
from well-seasoned and stable wood, with
corner joints that are appropriate for the
width and shape of the moulding. A frame
must be fabricated of quality materials so that
it will be equal, if not superior, to the quality
of the painting; thus, it will show the
painting to its best advantage. Lastly, a frame
must be aesthetically pleasing in terms of its
coloration, texture, and variety of sheens.
Color is used to bolster the advancement or
recession of forms and to differentiate
elements.
Vitruvius’ principle of consistency is also
an important concept that applies to framing.
For example, he writes:
....temples of the Doric order are erected to
Minerva, Mars, and Hercules, on account of
whose valour their temples should be of masculine
proportions, and without delicate ornament.
The character of the Corinthian order
seems more appropriate to Venus, Flora, Proserpine,
and Nymphs of Fountains; because its
slenderness, elegance and richness, and its orna-
From top: acanthus leaf, guilloche, leaf and
berry, and shell ornamentation designs.
mental leaves surmounted by volutes, seem to
bear an analogy to their dispositions...
Vitruvius’ virtuoso books remind us that
a good framer possesses historical knowledge
of frame styles and ornamentation as they are
appropriate, respectively, to the styles of
painting. Eventually, the designer must
know what works and what fails, and be able
to articulate the reasons why.
Learning the Language of Ornament
When it comes to trying to identify various
frame styles the amount of overlapping and
conflicting information makes the task
formidable. Armed with a little practice,
experience in making sketches of profile
drawings, and a firm understanding of the
historically correct ornaments that are
applied to them—their names, origins, and
evolutions—one slowly develops an eye for
the nuances and subtleties that emerge from
the vast labyrinth of design information.
Eventually, this “design vocabulary” of
elementals leads the framer to develop
“sentences,” “paragraphs,” and eventually a
“novel” worthy, at best, of a place of honor
in the mythological “Hall of Frames” on
Mount Olympus. (Or at least a new frame
design that won’t be rejected by your
discerning clients.) ■
William B. Adair received his B.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Maryland in 1972. For the next 10 years he worked for the
Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery as a museum conservator specializing in the treatment of picture frames. In 1982 he
formed his own company, Gold Leaf Studios, for the making of frames and the conservation of gilded antiques. Over the years his clients
have included the U.S. Department of State and the National Park Service. He is the founder of the International Institute for Frame
Study, a non-profit archive dedicated to collecting and disseminating information on the history of frames. He can be reached via e-mail at
bill@goldleafstudios.com.
February 2004