Though the frame has been resurfaced it is still representative of a style derived from the basic cassetta form. It was likely to have originally been similar in finish to the frame on Norman Macgeorge’s Mother-of-pearl (258-2). The dark timber veneer contrasts with the oil-gilded ornament. This is the frame listed in Thallon’s ledger on 13 October 1888, under Miss Sutherland, thus: 1 frame wide oak with gold (M) outside [laurel dark with 1 (in.) flat] the whole to be 5 ½ (in.) wide 26 x 18 R. The frame cost £2.12.
The frame is based on a tapering wooden flat, veneered with oak and mitred at the corners, giving a concave bevel to the veneered section. The torus ornament is cast composition, small-scale laurel and berry. The outer section carrying the ornament sits on top of the flat.
All the surfaces have been reworked, including the veneer section, which is now very dark.