Accession Number

2020.008.006

Alternate Name

photograph frame

Description

A two-part cut steel and cast metal picture frame painted gold (not original), the two rectangular frames joined with hinges to form a table display for two pictures, the glass in the left frame broken in two, each frame with a metal loop behind the top’s cast decoration to facilitate wall-hanging, the black leather interior water-damaged, one piece of picture-glass split in two, the other intact, the green linen back water-damaged, partially loose, wrinkled and abraded, the steel sides and tops metal front sides superbly cut and cast in a highly detailed manner with applied acanthus-leaf embellishments at each corner and an acanthus wreath atop each frame.

Narrative

This picture frame was designed to be placed on a horizontal surface such as a mantle or table or could be hung on a wall using the two loops on its back. The frame's history within the Dunsmuir family makes it a highly desirable object in The Castle Society’s Primary Collection.

A member of the Bryden family painted the steel frame with bronze powder paint sometime during the 20th Century.

History of Use

This picture frame was acquired by John William Bryden (1869-1953) and his wife Ellen Gertrude Tarbell (1882-1964) sometime after 1899 and used at their house on Gartley Beach at Royston, Vancouver Island, B.C. After their deaths, the frame was used by their son, Gerald Robert Bryden at his house in Royston, and then donated by his daughter to Craigdarroch Castle in 2020.
 

An unknown member of the Bryden family painted the picture frame sometime in the 20^th Century. Vestiges of that paint are adhered to the glass in some locations.

In the late 20^th Century, the fame was damaged in a basement flood at Royston in the home of the donor's aunt, Lucy Lenore Bryden (also known as Mrs. John Ryland).

Date

circa 1900

Dimensions

28.5 x 21.7 cm
The back display cavity dimensions are 14.8 cm X 10.3 cm per section.

Material

Metal, steel; Glass; Fabric, linen; Leather; Paint, powder

Technique

Cut; Painted; Tanned

Country of Origin

Republic of France