Between Tallarook and Yea
1880

• Louis BUVELOT

This frame is one of the earliest examples of the work of J & T Thallon in the collection. The business began in 1878.¹ The style represents a change in the presentation of Buvelot’s work, here adopting the common fluted classical revival frame, moving away from the more ornate frames of W. R. Stevens and others, with slips carrying curved top corners (see for example the Stevens frame on Buvelot’s Waterpool at Coleraine, 1871, (3231-4). This fluted classical frame appears to have been the foundation of the Thallon business and continued to be used for many years.²

Note

1 Published references do not list the company with an address at 103A Collins Street East. Since the company is listed at 105A in 1878 and at 103 in 1880, and the address on the label is very distinct, there may have been some error in registration or transcription. See Hilary Maddocks, ‘Picture Framemakers in Melbourne c. 1860–1930’ in vol. 1, Frames, Melbourne Journal of Technical Studies in Art, University of Melbourne Conservation Service, 1999.

For the Thallon business in general, see, Claire Newhouse, ‘John Thallon 1848–1918’, in the same volume.

2 Identical Thallon frames to this one, but carrying the 95 Collins Street East label (1882–88), can be found on Samuel Bough’s, The Weald of Kent (p.303.3/1) and John Ford Paterson’s, Old Edinburgh.

The frame uses composition ornament on a wooden chassis with fluting of the inner scotia carved in the timber. The torus is of imbricated laurel and berry. Burnished water gilding on a grey bole is used for the cavetto, ovolo and the cross-banding. The slip is water gilded, the body of the frame matte oil gilded. The slip is let in to a shallow rebate in the outer frame. This shallow rebate is used to locate glass when fitted.

The frame is in good original condition throughout, with some wearing of the surface. Damaged pieces of the banding were replaced in 2000.