NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s selected Eli Wilner to create a frame for the exhibition of an important painting by the 18th century French artist Carle Vanloo, “Premier Peintre” to Louis XV. Entitled Allegory of Painting, the picture was consigned by the estate of Eleanor Sonnenberg. The Wilner team first presented a summary of the frames exhibited on works by Vanloo in major museum collections worldwide. Then, upon careful assessment of the aesthetic qualities of the painting, they selected an ornate 18th century French frame in their collection that would be precisely replicated for the painting by the skilled craftspeople in their New York City frame restoration studio.

Wilner craftspeople not only replicated the appearance of the original frame, but also the methods used to create it. First, lengths of wood were selected and a drawing was prepared. Then the entire surface was carved by hand, alongside the original frame, to capture every nuance of the 18th century period frame. Once the carving was complete, successive thin layers of gesso were applied by hand. The entire gessoed surface was then carved again, a process called chasing, to ensure that the fine details of the carving were retained. A layer of fine clay, called bole, was then applied to prepare the surface for gilding. The frame was gilded using the highest quality gold leaf, with an alloy appropriate to the period, and the surface was toned by hand to match the color and age of the original.

Of special concern was the fact that the image has an oval shape, but no spandrel existed to properly cover the non-image areas at the corners of the rectangular canvas. The Wilner team created a tracing directly from the painting, and then created a spandrel with a gilded surface to precisely match the replicated frame. The framed painting was exhibited in New York from May 29th until June 3rd, and will be offered in the June 4th Master Paintings Sale at Sotheby’s New York, with an estimate of $80,000 - $120,000.