Madame Pfund by Tom Roberts, had been framed with a Louis XIV composition frame, dated to the 1920s and consistent with the early reframing of Buvelot's Summer afternoon, Templestowe (p.300.5-1) and Charles Condor's While daylight lingers (1391-4). Painted and distressed composition variants of the Louis XIV style remained current for many years and frames like this might easily have been produced through the 1940s.
The reframing of the painting became a priority in the preparation for a Tom Roberts retrospective exhibition in 1996-7.
The frame selected as a prototype for Madame Pfund appeared on Tom Roberts' Louise, daughter of the Hon L.L. Smith (4647-3). This project coincided with the reframing of Roberts' Lily Stirling (A13-1980) and Evening when the quiet east flushes faintly with the sun's last look (1375-4).
The frame, made from Jelutong, water gilded and distressed, was fitted to the painting in 1996.