We recently framed this 1898 oil painting by notable California artist Mary Curtis Richardson (1848-1931) titled “Hal & His Dog”. Hal is comfortably seated in—and so framed by—a sturdy mission oak chair. From this, and also (conveniently) in harmony with the somewhat loose brush work, we settled on a distinctly mission oak kind of frame, in a suitable Medieval Oak stain. This is a compound Aurora frame: the flat is our No. 1100, a chamfered mortise-and-tenon form, and it’s capped with a simple No. 1. The whole profile is 3″ wide, plus a 3/16″ pale gold slip. The design is plain, but the stepping effect of the cap and the chamfer takes you in to the painting nicely, the 45 degree angle of the chamfer also enhances the angles of the arms of a boy trying on the adult sense of authority he feels sitting in a chair just slightly too big for him.
Hope Hal feels at home.
Mary Curtis Richardson, “Hal and His Dog,” 1898. Oil on canvas, 16″ x 12″.
Corner detail