NEW YORK, NY.- Antique frame dealer
Eli Wilner & Company announced the acquisition of a carved and gilded frame designed by Stanford White in 1890.
“This frame is priced at $1.4 million.”
An essay by Jacob Simon, John Singer Sargent & the framing of his pictures, in Richard Ormond & Elaine Kilmurray’s John Singer Sargent: Figures and Landscapes, 1914-1925: The complete paintings, Vol. IX, features an in-depth look at the frame on Sargent’s Portrait of Henry Cabot Lodge in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The close similarity between the two frames suggests that the frame in Wilner’s collection would be very suitable for a Sargent painting.
In addition to being one of the most prominent American architects of the turn of the 20th century, Stanford White was a friend to many of the most notable artists of his time, and became one of the most important figures in the history of American frames. White's frames reimagined classical ornamentation in a way that would influence generations of frame makers. White's biographer Charles C. Baldwin said, “When Mr. White gets tired of designing houses he relaxes his brain with designs for picture frames.” White created frames for John Singer Sargent, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, William Merritt Chase, John LaFarge, Abbot Thayer, and John Twachtman.
White was responsible for some of the finest architecture in the United States, and also designed the decoration for private homes, churches, and public buildings, as well as tombstones, jewelry, and book covers. Some of his most important works of architecture include New York City's Washington Square Arch, the Gould Memorial Library, and the second Madison Square Garden (1890-1925).
Stanford White's own New York City home was perhaps his greatest feat. It showcased his love of both Old Master and contemporary paintings. He owned works by Dewing, Thayer, Metcalf, Brush, and Curran, as well as Tintoretto, Ingres, and Courbet. White also bought and sold Old Master paintings, furniture, antiques, architectural fragments, and frames. White's collection of antique frames served as inspiration for his own creations, but he also worked with a number of artisans to resize them to fit specific paintings for himself and for his clients.
White was an international celebrity, with his lasting fame cemented by the scandal of his murder in 1906, in the roof garden theater he concieved at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
In over four decades of business, Eli Wilner & Company has had extensive experience with frames by Stanford White. For example, Wilner recently restored an incredibly rare and fragile “floating grille” frame for the Maryland State Archives, which houses a painting by Thomas Wilmer Dewing (American, 1851-1938).
Eli Wilner & Company has over 10,000 projects featured in both private and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Guggenheim, among others. The White House currently displays 28 Eli Wilner & Co. frames. In 2019, Wilner was honored by the Historic Charleston Foundation with the Samuel Gaillard Stoney Conservation Craftsmanship Award for his company’s work in historic picture frame conservation.
