A new century for frames

Abstract

The function of the picture frame is to protect the artwork and enable it to be displayed safely, be it on the wall or free standing. For the photographic images, new frames were created ranging from simple leather cases and metal frames to more sophisticated and decorated frames. This specialised industry started to grow in the mid-nineteenth Century. The Niépce plates today are framed in two different styles, which illustrate two distinctive approaches to frame making in the nineteenth century. One frame embraces and exploits new industrialised methods of production, while the other employs traditional frame making skills. Two frames are made in England and the other frame in France. The surviving French frame, the most likely to have been chosen by Niépce, suffers from damages and it could be that the other two frames were in worse condition and as a result removed and the plates reframed. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that undertaking repairs is in general more expensive than buying new frames.

Keywords:

• Niépce

I would like to thank Harriet O’Neill and Gerry Alabone at the Tate, Jacob Simon for his swift responses to my many questions and Philippa Wright and Susie Clark for their generous information and support.