Before and After Treatment

From left to right:

1. Damage to frame decoration on the bottom right hand corner 

2. Steramould is used to capture the decoration that is missing on another part of the frame 

3. Crystacal R Plaster is then used to cast the mould that was taken and is cut to size in the area of loss

4. Flugger is used to fill the empty spaces around the cast and blend it in with the original decoration 

The cast is then painted in a layer of red ochre paint, this paint was chosen to replicate the original bole undercoat of the frame which is still visible in places. 

The cast was then lightly dusted in a layer of gold cream and then buffed with cotton wool to give it a smooth shiny surface to match the original gilded surface. 

Insurance claim​​​​​​​

Before and After Restoration 

Old repairs were removed due to clients request and the frame was gently cleaned using Acetone to remove any dust, dirt and soot left from the fire. 

All exposed compo/ wooden surfaces were then sealed using liquid Rabbit skin glue and then covered in a layer of Gesso, which was then sanded till smooth (Images above). 

Moulds were then taken off the decoration that still remained on the frame using Lab-Putty (Images above) 

Composition was used to recreate the missing decoration from the moulds that were taken. 

The compo pieces were then gilded in 23.75ct gold leaf, transfer and loose. 

The newly gilded pieces were then toned to blend in with the original surface texture and colours of the frame. This was achieved using 0000 fine wire wool, English Oak wax and oil paints. 

The entire beading decoration on the top edge of the frame was also missing and had to be recreated from scratch. 

The edge was first cleaned, sanded and then sealed using the gesso. Compo casts of the beads were then laid across the edge before being blended into place using further gesso. This gave the appearance that the beads look to be part of the original decoration. 

The beads were then gilded and toned using the same technique as mentioned above. 

Structurally Damaged Frame​​​​​​​

Before and After Treatment

Three corners of the frame had become separated leaving the frame in a very fragile structural condition, one of the corners was also missing a splint which adds extra strength to the frame corners. The corners of the frame needed to be realigned and secured as well as a new corner splint being carved for insertion back into the area of loss. 

Images above:  A detailed view of the damage. 

A professional grade wood adhesive was applied into the corners of the frame and was then clamped into place using a four way corner clamp. The corners were tightened simultaneously with the help of two other conservators, ensuring all corners fitted together properly. 

The missing splint area was measured and a new one was cut and carved out of wood before being adhered into place using professional grade wood glue. The corner was then toned using wood wax colour Georgian Mahogany to blend in with the original colour of the wood. 

Once all damaged corners were secure, the original intact corner was consolidated with Paraloid B72 in 15% Acetone to provide extra strength. 

This frame had been involved in a house fire and the top portion of the frame had been significantly surface damaged because of it. The heat of the fire had effected the gilding causing it to bubble, crack and darken. The client wished for the entire frame to be regilded and toned to their wishes. 

The frame was paint stripped to allow new layers of boles, shellac and gilding to be built on the original gesso surface. 

Photographs below show the frame after paint stripping and close up photographs of the damage present 

The Areas of loss were where wood was exposed was filled with gesso putty, a combination of rabbit skin glue in water measured 1:5. After the gesso was sanded till smooth, moulds were taken of the areas that needed to be recreated using Lab Putty. Compositon was then pressed into these moulds and cut to fit the areas of loss. 

Gesso putty was used once again to seal the new compo repairs so they could blend into the original decoration of the frame (as shown above)

The frame was then painted in four layers of yellow bole and two layers of red bole where water gilding would be applied. The boles were made with a combination of rabbit skin glue and natural clays mixed to a single cream like consistency. The red water gilded sections were then burnished with an agate tool (as shown above)

The red bole sections of the frame were then water gilded using Gilders Laquear, a combination of rabbit skin glue, water and alcohol. Once set the gilding was then burnished once more with an agate to enhance the reflective surface (as shown above)

Once the water gilding was complete the rest of the frame was covered in a shellac to prepare the surface for gilding 

The frame was prepared with 12 hour size and was gilded just as the surface began to feel tacky and not sticky. 23.75ct gold leaf, both loose and transfer was used to achieve this (as shown above)

The client wished for the frame to remain shiny but with a toned finish to make the gold appear more aged. In this case Georgian Mahogany wax was used to tone the surface, retaining its new shiny surface but giving it a more brownish appearance. (as shown above)

The new compo repairs blended in perfectly to the frame and its newly gilt surface (as shown above)

The ribbon on the frame had been damaged when the frame had been dropped, exposing a network of wires beneath the ribbon decoration that would have originally held it in place. 

Before and After Restoration

Images above from 'left to right' and 'top to bottom': Top ribbon centre, top ribbon right side, top ribbon left side and bottom ribbon centre.

Crystacal R Plaster was used to remake the missing pieces of ribbon, traditionally compo would be used for this repair but the client requested Crystacal R Plaster. The Crystacal was hollowed out to allow it to fit on the wire before being sealed on the back with liquid Crystacal plaster to create a smooth backing. 

The repairs were then painted in raw umber acrylic paint and left to dry before a thin layer of gold cream was brushed over them. The gold cream when set was then buffed with a cotton wool swab before the decoration was toned using acrylics and waxes. 

For the regilding process to be successful the frame was stripped of its original gold and the wooden balls that were attached to the frame also had their remaining flaking gold removed to reveal the original gesso/ wooden base. 

The balls once stripped were covered in a layer of gesso and sanded until smooth, the same was done for missing sections of decoration on the main parts of the frame as well.

The balls once sanded were then covered in a smooth layer of button shellac and then gilded using 23.75ct gold leaf. 

Images below from top to bottom: gesso covered balls, process of restoration and gilded balls.

The rest of the frame, once sanded and smooth, was also covered in a layer of button shellac and gilded with 23.75ct gold leaf. The balls were then reattached to the frame with adhesive on the end of their nail to ensure they were secure.

Once gilded the gold was toned and sealed with Georgian Mahogany Wax. (Image below)

Before and After Treatment

Due to the age and nature of this frame, it had been under extreme restoration work in its past. This includes several layers of different coloured gold paint on its surface as well as missing decoration being cast in plaster. 

Due to the materials and methods used in its past treatment, the frames surface and structure was beginning to deteriorate. This included the original gold paint started to go brown and the plaster casts starting to crack and become loose due to the glue that was used. 

However another problem that was evident on the frame was the fact it had become water damaged. In the top left hand side of the frame it is clear that water has run down its surface, leaving tide marks behind, this is very obvious on the water gilded slip as shown below. 

The client wished for the tide marks to be removed and to achieve this the entire water gilded slip needed to be regilding. 

The slip was removed from the original frame and gesso was used to fill cracks and losses that the slip had sustained over the years, this was done to ensure the slip had a smooth finish when it was finally gilded. 

Images below show a corner of the frame before and after it was filled with gesso and sanded.

Once the damage to the slip was filled and sanded, 2 new layers of red bole were applied. These were also sanded until smooth and polished with 0000 wirewool. 

A water gilding lacquer was then made using rabbit skin glue, water and alcohol. The lacquer was brushed thickly onto the surface the gold leaf to attach to it. 23.75ct loose gold leaf was used to water gild the slip. The gold leaf was gently pressed onto the surface with cotton wool and once the surface was completely dry cotton wool was also used to remove excess gold. 

The slip was then reinserted into the frame and toned to match the now treated frame. The frame had the majority of its paint removed and losses were replaced with composition decoration which were gilded and then toned. 

Before and after treatment