Childe Hassam, American, 1899-1935
Headlands of Appledore. 1907
Oil on cradled panel
Headlands of Appledore. 1907
Oil on cradled panel
Childe Hassam’s Headlands in Appledore,
although a beautiful painting, arrived at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) in a historically inaccurate frame. Most paintings today are not housed in the frames that were originally built for them, and this one in particular had not been made with Hassam’s design aesthetic even remotely in mind.The painting in the frame it arrived in
When it came to framing choices, Hassam was strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. Reacting to the increased mechanization of the Industrial Revolution, artisans such as Hermann Dudley Murphy of Carrig-Rohane resisted the automation of frame-making by learning to create their own frames, and drawing on existing historical styles such as the cassetta-style frame developed in Italy during the 15th-16th centuries. Cassetta frames have wide, flat center panels with raised outer edges, creating a simple profile that allows for a number of variations in ornamentation. Hassam, who was particularly drawn to the cassetta frames, would use variations in this design consistently throughout his career.
Replica Frames
detail of carving guides
The production of period-appropriate replica frames requires extensive research, as well as consideration of the appearance of historic frames at the time of their production. The surface treatment of a replica frame must be in balance with the painting it surrounds; that is, the frame should not only evoke the period of the painting through the use of historically accurate elements, but should also appear consonant in age. The use of traditional frame-making techniques to create a replica frame helps to provide such a sense.
applying gesso to the frame
water-based size being applied
a fully gesso-ed frame
metal leaf being cut
almost completely gilded frame
When replicating decorative elements from one frame for use on another, a silicone rubber mold is made of the parts to be copied; the positive mold is used to create a urethane plastic or plaster ornament. For long lines of decorating, a two-part urethane plastic casting system is utilized. The construction process of each frame requires many steps, including machining the wood, gluing sections to make the profile, painting the wood with many coats of gesso; measuring, steaming, and applying ornament; applying and burnishing clay; gilding and toning.