1 Painting + 2 Old Frames

Hello everybody!

I've got a painting and 2 old frames. Both (to me) seem to be dating 19th Century.

One frame is a bit smaller. The other one, which belongs to the painting is a larger size.
I think they do have the same style. The bigger frame has a couple of pieces broken off of. I think this might be fixed with some plaster or something.

Unfortunately the painting is very dirty. Can't find any signature. I hope this is hidden under the dirt, although this possibility might be very small.

Does anybody have some cleaning tips??

A professional restorer will be too expensive, and probably not worth it.

And internet-tricks with onions, potatoes and acetone wouldn't be risk-free either I guess...

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External Dimensions SMALLER frame:
22,83 x 26,55 inch.

External Dimensions BIGGER frame:
35,4 x 27,55 inch.
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Thanks for paying attention!!
R. Antonis



BIGGER FRAME:

 

SMALLER FRAME:

 

PAINTING ITSELF:

 

You are NOT going to love this answer, but I swear - you can efficaciously (and professionally) clean your painting with a gauze of cotton swab, and warm spit.

 

Well, somebody on another website assumed it was nicotine tarnish.
But I think it looks like oil or something. I have no idea what it is really.

I think it would be good to know what it is first, before spreading it out or rub it in even further.

Maybe the only way to find out it just to get started, but I'd thought I rather ask it here first, since I haven't done this before.

I'm also considering, if not all too expensive, to restore the frame myself.
I think that's a nice thing to 'learn'.

 

Re: the frames. If they are real gold leaf, a professional can repair them. If they are gold paint, perhaps you can repair the paint. Or, you can tint the white parts with Old English (blonde). With old frames like these, it is not strictly necessary to 'return to former glory.' Just make the problem look less obvious.

If the paint (or leaf) is in a deplorable, unfixable mess (which yours are not), the frames can be painted white -- which covers all sins acceptably -- and we can call them shabby chic, and sell them for pots of money.

If YOU have pots of money, take them to a professional to be re-molded and re-leafed.

 

The somebody elsewhere was probably correct about the nicotine. I used to smoke and my paintings looked exactly like those. And, yes, there is oil in them thar spots. Very tenacious!

 

Nice 19th century frames. Have used silly putty to cast new small sections before. I am sure there is some kind of casting clay that can be purchased to do the same thing.

Windsor and Newton picture cleaner might be a good solution for your painting since this appears to be varnished. It is not fool-proof and care needs to be taken to not take the cleaning too far.

http://www.winsornewton.com/na/shop...ure-cleaner-2-53-us-fl-oz-75ml-bottle-3221735

It is an ammonia based product. I use ammonia and water to clean paintings but even more care needs to be taken. Have even used ammonia based Windex on occasions for an initial swipe. I am sure some of you are cringing right now.

 

Thank you all for the responses. Somebody yesterday on facebook told me they were probably 1950's, and not worth to restore.

I assume you all disagree?

If restored, what would a frame do in good condition, approximately?


I have watched a couple of youtube vids about restoring 19th century frames, a couple made by profession restorers. I think I can give it a try.

Plus, I'm not really sure how to see if it's gold leaf, gold paint, or just gold/brass colored paint.

 

I know of a test, but it involves open flame. Without seeing it up close and personal, it doesn't look like gold leaf to me as it looks too even and it doesn't seem to glitter like the real deal.

 

In such cases, size matters. Standard sizes are going to be more valuable than odd sizes. Selling to someone who needs a good frame for a painting will net you more than selling to the decorator trade. Here in the Midwest, frames rarely sell for more than $45.00 in our shop regardless of condition. I think you could do better on ebay.

Here are sold listings for Victorian frames. There are a lot of them so think you should be able to find some similar to yours if you care to look.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=victorian+picture+frame&rt=nc

 

Brad, I'm cringing.

Post a photograph of the back of the painting and a close up of the canvas on the back. If it is a 19th century painting, the canvas may have been treated with a rabbit skin glue. Using water or other non mineral spirits can soften the glue again and you will crackle and/or damage the painting. The same things goes for genuine gold leaf frames. Using anything but mineral spirits will harm the gold. Water is not your friend when cleaning gold leaf. I don't think the first one is gold leaf. It looks like bronze powder paint with silver leaf under yellow varnish. I can't tell from the photographs if the second one is gold leaf or not. If you can take a picture of the edge from the back, it might show if there is gesso underneath.

Under the general discussion board, I posted some photographs last week of some frames I just restored. Your damage looks fairly easy to fix. Please do not paint them.

To clean the painting, do a test area in one of the bottom corners of the painting with spit. Do a very small area, 1/2" by 1/2". Make sure your mouth is clean without any food or mouth wash. Drink some water first, wait a few minutes then you can just put a q-tip in your mouth to wet it. Change the q-tip each time you go over an area again or a new area. Don't reuse the dirty side. You may have to go over it the area more than once. I've read about artificial saliva but I have never tried it. I've always cleaned my paintings with spit.

 

Hi Mill Cove,
Do not bother with the artificial saliva, it is the pits. When we were spitting to do all of the paintings in the Lady Chapel, someone bought some artificial saliva. It just made a mess and took a lot of re cleaning to remove the gook. We saved spit in bottles marked with our name in the refrig. We had 12 paintings 10 feet high and 3ft wide. That was a lot of spit for 5 people.
greg