1670’s. World map (double polar projection) by Joan Blaeu, 16 1/2″ x 21 3/4″. Custom compound mitered frame—5″ profile width, including rain sill inner frame. In cherry with Deep Red-Brown stain and painted; gilt slip.
This extraordinary specimen of the Dutch Golden Age of mapmaking was printed from a copper engraving produced in the studio of Joan Blaeu (1596-1673), chief mapmaker for the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch Golden Age was not only a high point for mapmaking but also for the art of the picture frame, so there could be no holds barred in fabricating a suitable setting for this important and beautiful piece. For the 16″ x 21″ intricately decorated map we designed an equally decorative frame reminiscent of the ebony and ebonized fruitwood frames of the time. But instead of a black wood, we used cherry stained deep red-brown to better suit the print’s splendid coloring. (One key detail of the frame is the diminutive sill on the bottom rail’s inner molding.) The frame, including the slip, is 5″ wide.
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