The hard edge of the ornament and the brassy finish of this frame do not sit happily with contemporary taste; nevertheless, frames like this were common and were probably the stock in trade of many commercial framers. The date of the frame is uncertain, but it is likely to reflect a later re-framing of the watercolour. Stevens was used by Buvelot to frame a number of oil paintings, particularly in the 1870s. There are also accounts related to Stevens supplying frames to the NGV. See also the entry for Buvelot’s Coleraine and waterpool (3231-4). A frame by an unidentified maker, which shows the same finish on machine rolled ornament, can be found on W. C. Piguenit’s The Snowy River, N.S.W. c. 1903 (1995.45). Though the watercolour and the frame are now separated they have been re-assembled digitally for this publication.
Notes
1 The address is lost from the label, though it could be 33 Elizabeth Street, which dates between 1894 and 1900.