Vintage Magazine Cover Art in Special Closed Corner Frame


The magazine cover, titled "Vanides" (Spanish for Vanities), pictured here, is a publication that dates back to 1937, when it was first published in Cuba. What really caught our attention was the frame that was selected by one of our framing team. It was the absolutely perfect frame for this item. What makes it stand out is that the corners have a painted, stamped floral motif that gives the corners a lot of personality. This particular frame comes from Chester Frame Company of Madison, Connecticut. They are a small, boutique frame builder whose advertising says that their frames are "unapologetically rustic." This particular frame is from their "Step Collection." It is a great piece of frame design. The paint-stamped floral corners are an adaptation of the "closed corner" frame building tradition.



Closed Corner Frames are different from regular "chop and join" frames in that the frame is built, carved, ornamented and then painted stained or metal leafed, whereas a "chop and join" frame (usually what you get at most frame shops) starts out as an 8 to 10 foot stick of milled wood moulding that gets finished (i.e. painted, leafed, varnished, etc.) first and, then, is cut to the desired frame size where it is joined at the corners with v-nails, glue or special hourglass-shaped wedges.



We buy closed corner frames from other specialty frame makers, such as Rhonda Feinman of Woodside, New York; Matthew Horowitz of Gold Leaf Framemakers of Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Brad Holton of Berkley, California. Rhonda and Matthew build traditional closed corner frames, adding cast ornamentation, carving and other add-ons and, then, applies the gesso, sizing, and metal leafing, a process used for hundreds of years to make museum grade frames or frames for wealthy patrons in Renaissance (and later) Europe.

Brad Holton's closed corner frames are more contemporary and very architectural in their style. Often, they are made from quarter-sawn Oak, using special joinery at the corners. The finish is, often, a warm, dark brown "fumed" finish, with a gilt slip (gold leafed lip around the opening). In his email newsletter, he shows them being used on original paintings of landscapes. They are, very much, closed corner frames but with a more contemporary flourish.

The point of all this is that you end up with a beautiful, unique, frame that is not mass-produced and is, in itself, a work of art. It cannot help but greatly enhance your framed item. While it would seem unlikely that you would have us build a closed corner frame for a cheap poster or something that you wanted framed inexpensively, it is perfectly normal to spend the money on framing an original work of art that is special, one of a kind. Just know that a closed corner frame will, very likely, cost 2 or 3 times what a chop and join frame costs.

But WOW, what a frame......

Photos and copy by Brian D. Flax, CPF