That frames are now recognized as works of art in themselves is demonstrated by the permanent displays of empty frames in Paris at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Reeves Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts in Dallas.

Few paintings have withstood the ravages of time in their original frames. Generally, the older the picture, the greater the probability that it will have been separated from its intended frame, and the divorce rate is highest amongst the Old Masters. Countless frames have been needlessly discarded over the centuries, so that original examples are extremely scarce. In most cases they are statistically rarer than the pictures they once surrounded. This is particularly evident, say, with the Renaissance aedicular or tabernacle frames created for devotional works: when the latter were sold in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries, the naked paintings were sent on their way alone for ease of transport, whilst the frames, once empty, were not considered worth preserving. Similarly, other large canvases would have been stripped from frames and stretchers, and rolled-up for removal to be reframed by their new owners.

The scarcity of period frames today becomes ever greater and their value consequently higher as the guardians of public and private collections recognize the benefits of seeing their paintings in authentic settings. The majority of empty antique frames of quality are held in the stocks of a handful of specialist frame dealers in Europe and America. The present author’s collection, accumulated over two generations, comprises over 3,000 examples of European frames from the fifteenth- to the twentieth-centuries. The inventory of Italian, Spanish, French, English, Netherlandish and German frames is unique for its breadth, variety and quality.

In order to provide examples of all the given permutations of nationality, period and style the stock needs to be of this scale and, as such, represents a formidable resource of antique frames. Combined with the carving and gilding of reproductions, private, trade and institutional clients are provided with a fully comprehensive framing service.