Brass and wood photo frame with stones (Arts and Crafts?)

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with some information about this photo frame. It measures approx. 22 x 16 cm (for a 13 x 8 cm photo) and is made of brass (presumably) and wood set with four stones, two of which are possibly amethysts.

Any information, hints and tips on the period, origin and value of this object would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance,
Cecilie

 

Could use a larger pic of the details of the work. That said, from what I can see, I think more India or other Southeast Asia location and a bit more recent in origin than arts and crafts period. Does seem to have some age to it.

 

Welcome to the forum, Cecilie.
As Brad said, we need to see details.

 

Hello,

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my question.

Here's two more pictures. Does this help in any way?

 

You are right, Cecilie, an Arts & Crafts frame. Medieval influence rather than Asian, that was a bit difficult to discern at first.
The back also shows age.

 

Thank you Peter, that's a great help! (I'm sorry that the picture quality was a bit poor the first time around – I'm a newbie on the forum...)

Where do you think it might be from? As far as I understand, A&C was a British, and later American, movement, but I found the frame in the South of France (which doesn't necessarily mean anything, obviously).

Thanks again for your help!

 

Pleasure, but I am not Peter. Doesn't matter.
Arts & Crafts was originally the name for the British movement, but it has become a term for similar Western movements of the period and slightly later as well.
It could be a French frame, or made somewhere else in the Western world. The essence is the same, handmade, with an arrangement of repoussé and hammered designs

 

Haha! Sorry, it said 'Peter' in the email notification I received, so I thought that was the person who'd answered the question. (Must learn not to jump to conclusions!) Thank you whoever you are! :-D

 

Welcome, Cecilie! That was Any Jewelry (female). We often just call her AJ.

I like your avatar photo. Is that somebody you know, or a random picture?

The person named Peter whose name is on the notification is the administrator of this Antiquers site. He doesn't post here very often but his name just automatically shows on notifications.

 

Thanks for the new pics. Agree that it is an arts and crafts period frame. English? Provenance?

 

Ah, thanks for solving that mystery! ;-)

I love my avatar photo too! I wish I could say that I knew who she was, but as it happens, I only recently bought the portrait at an antiques' market after falling completely and utterly in love with it!!

When I got home from the market and cleared off some of the dust from the picture, I discovered a signature in the bottom right corner: Apparently, the picture was taken in Singapore by G. R. Lambert & Co. I don't know the first thing about photography, but Lambert seems to have been a very well-known photographer in his time (see e.g. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Photographs_by_G.R._Lambert_&_Co._from_KITLV).

Your avatar picture is lovely too!

 

Thank you, Brad! I have no idea where it might be from. I just bought it in France, that's all I know...

 

Interesting information about that studio!

My avatar is a cropped photo of a 19th-century actress whose name slips my mind at the moment. The photo was taken by one of the big celebrity photographers of the day in New York City. Either Sarony or Mora, most likely.

Edit: The actress was Ada Cavendish and photo is an 1870s carte de visite by Sarony. I just retrieved it from an album.

 

Info on the actress:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Cavendish

 

France could very well be. older ones handhammered, filled with putty and nailed to the frame; later ones also simply deep-drawn. not brass but copper. I have a few around where the copper is already black.

 

Judging from the colour, I think mine must be brass rather than copper.
It does indeed seem to be nailed to the frame – I am attaching another close-up.

 

"Judging from the colour, I think mine must be brass rather than copper."
the French are a bit more precise in those respects and call this "cuivre jaune", depending on the alloy with other elements, especially zinc - or when more details should be shown - lead.

 

I didn't know that. That's very interesting – thanks!