Читать книгу The Library of Work and Play: Home Decoration - Charles Franklin Warner - Страница 19

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The picture is a copy in sepia tones of Murillo's Saint Anthony, 16 inches in height by 20 inches horizontally. The frame is made of quartered oak 3 inches wide, slightly convex but smooth; and it is well joined with mitred corners. A picture of this character needs no mat. Indeed, it would have been the height of presumption to strive to accentuate a masterpiece of such highly idealistic meaning and treatment. It must be left to itself as much as possible. The dimensions of the frame are therefore determined by the size of the picture itself.

The picture hangs against a light gray wall in good light, somewhat apart from other pictures. It was a happy thought thus to recognize its dignity. It was given further distinction by finishing the oak frame so that it should not associate itself with the other woodwork in the room. Since the room in which the picture was to hang has a light ash trim and most of the furniture a mahogany finish, this requirement was easily met.

But there are many ways of finishing a frame to avoid too close association with the commonplace that would have been anything but appropriate to such a picture as this. A gilt surface, a silver-gray tone, or a highly polished golden oak are possible blunders. Nothing should be done to call attention to the frame of any picture, least of all to one of such spiritual feeling as this one. The frame should seem to be a part of the picture, repeating its prevailing tones with a richness in keeping with the composition of the picture itself. The colour should be a rich, dark brown, but not so dark as to obscure the figure of the wood. The finish should be dull, but soft and smooth.

There are several brown stains which, properly applied, would give the desired effect. For the colour it was thought best to rely upon Van Dyke brown, which may be used either with alcohol or turpentine. It is not desirable to use a water stain in a case like this because it would raise the grain, necessitating sand-papering, which should be avoided as much as possible on picture frames in order to keep the edges and corners intact. Ammonia fuming preserves the figure of the wood better than any other form of staining, but it was thought that the oak might not take on a tone dark enough to meet the requirements. It was decided, however, to try the fuming method and to tone up with a thin coat of stain if the effect proved to be not sufficiently dark. The ammonia process resulted in a rich, soft surface, but in a colour too light. A thin Van Dyke brown alcohol stain was therefore applied and when dry this was followed by a very thin coat of shellac—mostly alcohol—coloured to match the stain. This was to fill partially the grain of the wood. Finally, it was thoroughly coated with wax finish and well rubbed to restore the soft, satin-like surface.