This frame can be compared with the Watts frame, made by W. A. Smith, London, on Watts’ Alfred Tennyson,(p.312.9-1) which entered the collection in 1888. This Thallon frame might be modelled on the Smith frame. Though the basic form of both frames is similar, the ornament differs. A more fundamental difference in the frames is the construction of the corners. The flat of the Smith frame joins in the vertical along with the veneer, a common form for this style of frame. The Thallon frame runs the veneer over a mitred chassis: the look is correct, the construction flawed. In a number of Watts frames made by the Sydney framer Callan, both the veneer and the underlying timber of the flat are joined with a mitred corner.
Note