The ford

The ford
 1883-1912

Gallery location
Not on display

Artwork Details

Medium
watercolour
Measurements
(73.3 × 100.2 cm) (sheet)
Accession Number
555-2
Department
International Prints and Drawings
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1912
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Gallery location
Not on display
Subjects (general)
Agriculture Landscapes Nature
Subjects (specific)
clouds dog (species) fords full-length figures horse (species) naturalistic landscapes (visual works) trees
Frame
Original, by Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh

Frame

This Empire-style fluted scotia frame2 is an example of the use of an elaborately detailed frame for presenting a watercolour, the sort of frame we more commonly associate with oil paintings. Interestingly, it runs right to the sight edge with pattern work, rather than using a conventional slip to meet the edge of the image. It is more common to find works on paper presented with wide gilded flats or the conventional slip of a frame for an oil painting separating the image and the border formed by the frame. The profile is nevertheless tall, with a steep inclination of the fluted scotia, giving the frame a box-like form and sitting the picture plane of the watercolour back against the wall. The watercolour itself is stretched over a blind stretcher.

Notes

1 Though the painting remains undated, it is likely the frame dates to after Walton settled in Edinburgh in 1904. (www.nationalgalleries.org/collections/artist)

Aitken Dott were at 26 Castle Street from 1901, possibly as early as 1887. (www.npg.org.uk/live/artistsupp_d.asp)

2 Paul Mitchell & Lynn Roberts, A History of European Picture Frames, Merrell Holberton, London, 1996, p. 67. The profile and decorative work reflect a type of English frame from the first decades of the nineteenth century.

Frame Details

Framemaker
Aitken Dott & Son

26 So. Castle St., Edinburgh
Date
(1904)1
Materials

The frame is constructed from three primary wooden profiles, extensively ornamented with composition work to form a rendering of an Empire-style frame. The chassis is mitred at the corners with a low relief acanthus leaf covering the mitres of the scotia. The surface appears to be water gilded on a red bole.

Frame Condition

The surface appears to be original, though worn and showing distress from a deteriorated surface coating of size.

Dimensions
105.0 x 132.0 x 12.5 cm; sight 73.0 x 100.3 cm
More Information
National Portrait Gallery

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