Colonial Style

The wealth of early colonial mining towns and the availability of precious metals contributed to the creation of innovative gold and silver frames. Although they imitate the European manner and decorative patterns, these somewhat crude, locally designed and produced works are probably the first indigenous American frames. In the cities of colonial America frame making was a part of the trade of the looking glass and cabinetmakers. These common sources for frames from Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore account primarily for the relative uniformity of frames on earliest American paintings.

Federal Style--1800-1830

In early America, ''Republic'' and ''Democracy'' were not merely ideas of political theory, but role models used by revolutionary thinkers. The new leadership was interested in seeing the development of decorative styles, which would symbolically reflect its political direction. With our appreciation for French assistance during the Revolutionary War, the Federal frame became an echo of Louis XVI design and its classical references. Often less ornamented than its neoclassical counterparts in Europe; the American Federal frame tended to be light and delicate, with a modest amount of ornamentation. During this period, the Maratta frame, with its classical Roman integrity, initially came into vogue. A purely American innovation, termed the ''Sully'' frame (after the artist Thomas Sully, whose works often bear this frame), was crafted of a beveled, angular profile with clean, reserved lines that later took on ornamentation.

Rococo Revival--1830-1850

The Rococo Revival, emulating earlier French and Italian contours and detail, became the most popular of the eclectic revivals of the American 19th century. As in Europe, mass production techniques were taking hold in America. There were still craftsmen capable of hand carving, but relatively few frames were produced in this manner. The advent of molded composition allowed for inexpensive access to luxury frames. This method of production would irreversibly affect the structure and proliferation of frames in America. Hudson River School--1850-1860 In the decade preceding the Civil War, Americans began to fully recognize the diversity of their country's glorious landscape. This era of exploration and its spirit was reflected in the antebellum art, which was dominated by vast, open landscapes. To stimulate western expansion, immense paintings were commissioned and presented in theater-like settings. Artists such as Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church were using large, heavily ornamented frames for these colossal ''salon paintings'' depicting the grandeur of the new territories. Not surprisingly, these frames contained naturalistic forms that actually appeared in the paintings. During this embrace with nature, sand and rock panels were prevalent, and frame corners were dominated with nut, leaf and berry motifs.

Gothic Revival and The Return to Craftsmanship--1860-1880

The years immediately following the Treaty of Appomattox saw the South's gradual, painful return from physical devastation and economic ruin. In the North, however, the period was marked by soaring industrial prosperity and an insatiable need for home furnishings. As in the European experience, American response to the flamboyance of the preceding era, with all its reminders, was a return to classic forms. References to Greco-Roman architecture proliferated, returning the Maratta frame to its prominence--albeit with ornamental modifications. The drive toward a simple, classic style set the stage for the emergence of a reeded moulding, onto which decorative devices could be attached. This style was made popular by the artist, James McNeill Whistler, and carries his name to this day. Concurrently with this period (and at the same time a reaction against it), within English and American art centers, artists and craftspeople considered the mass-produced, mechanically created furnishings an affront to their sensibilities and skills. Heralding the Arts and Crafts Movement, tastemakers, such as the English architect Charles Eastlake sought to right this. In his dictum on picture frames, as recorded in ''Hints on Household Taste and Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details'', Eastlake railed against 19th century frame-making technology: "In place of carving, the wood is overlaid with a species of composition, molded into wretched forms, which pass for ornament as soon as they are gilded." The frames carrying his name are typically crafted from an ebonized wood moulding with an inscribed linear design. In Philadelphia, the painter, Thomas Eakins often used a simple gilded plank of quarter-sawn oak, with occasional incising.

The Gilded Age--1880-1900

Opulence and refinement was the hallmark of this period and the architect/taste-maker Stanford White was at the forefront. White collected 15th century Italian frames while traveling in Europe in search of his architectural designs. The beaux-arts-inspired firm of McKim, Mead and White helped to create a rich environment for a classical revival that set the tone for producing some of the greatest examples of the framer's art in America. Adaptations carried influences from all French Louis periods as well as Moorish and Islamic motifs. White's frame designs expressed an identifiably architectural elegance; and he was therefore understandably drawn to occasionally build upon the architrave profile. His personal friendship and collaboration with leading artists (such as Abbott Thayer, Thomas Wilmer Dewing and Augustus Saint-Gaudens) provided a convenient outlet for his inspiration.

Arts and Crafts--1890-1920

In the final decade of the 19th century, American frame making, at last, came into its own as a separate entity. The persistence of second-rate frames being constructed and sold in volume created a demand for quality frames--by museums, galleries and collectors alike--and a growing number of quality firms were ready to fill the need. Boston became prominent in this regard with the establishing of the Carrig-Rohane Shop. Founded by the tonalist painter, Herman Dudley Murphy and joined by Charles Prendergast (the brother of Maurice) and Walfred Thulin, the collaboration revolutionized frame making in this country. Often resembling cassetta frames, these signed originals are a synthesis of styles extending as far back as the Renaissance. The carved designs on the outer corners, for example, reflect 16th century Venetian Canalet to shapes. The dawn of the 20th century saw a return to expressive craftsmanship and a rejection of sweeping industrialization.

Contemporary Frames--1920-Present

In the wake of World War I and as American mercantile expansion progressed (i.e., automotive and aeronautic) artists and designers found industry to be an excellent source for inspiration, for both exalting and vilifying. Although wood remained the framing material of choice, coatings other than gold came into wide usage in the 1920's: aluminum gilding, silver, chrome and painted surfaces. The Art Deco period, marked by a combination of stout, geometric industrial references and Egyptian elements (inspired by recent discoveries) introduced a still-continuing march toward streamlining. The genesis of Art Deco is traceable to the purity and simplicity of the International Style, whose principal proponent, Le Corbusier, had been one of the founders of the Bauhaus School (which was founded upon the principle that ''form follows function''). The creativity of the artists themselves, rather than any established tradition, served to direct the course of frame design in the 1920's. These prominent artists were deeply committed to frame design and helped to signal the end of the traditional approach to frame making in America. John Marin, notably, introduced a flat-wood design, which bears his name. This step-frame allowed him to express his affinity for extending the canvas activity onto the frame surface. During the 1930's and 1940's, international economic, political, and social upheaval, played a great part in the shaping of artistic expression. The major art movement, dada, (the literary and artistic abolition of conventional aesthetic norms) by it's very nature severed any commitments to past framing techniques. As Dadaism progressed into modernism, paintings by young artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning were to be presented with an absolute minimum of framing presentation--or none at all. This departure from the concept that framing is to present a ''cradle'' for the art it houses, was not abandoned universally among artists--but by allowing for the possibility, many new ''non-frame'' innovations were enabled. In 1960, the artist and designer Robert Kulicke created the welded-corner aluminum frame for the Museum of Modern Art, New York and later developed the plexi-box frame. Later, with the aid of industrial designer Donald Herbert, he produced the first metal section frame for international distribution.