Evensong
(c. 1900-1914)

• Clara SOUTHERN

The frame is a style that we see in variations on a number of paintings. It is dramatically simple and decidedly forceful in scale for this painting, giving a sense of heaviness to the work. The construction is not complex and the frame would not have been expensive. It may be the frame entered in Thallon’s ledger on 14 October 1898: Southern 1 frame 40 x 19 R £2 , though this does not accord with current dating of the painting. The entry is accompanied by a profile drawing, very similar to the one here, annotated bronze on the torus and all bronze on the profile, width 6 1/2 ins.

The frame for Evensong is built on a single plank of timber, which has been bevelled to form the sight edge. The sight edge is trimmed with a torus of imbricated broad scale laurel and berry cast from composition. The torus is centred, banded at the centres and corners and sits on a raised timber section. The working edge is built with the addition of a dressed (2 x 1 in) batten. The structure is mitred together at the corners, which are secured with nails and screws. The flat appears to be veneered and the surface is gilded with false gold. Though it has been resurfaced, something of the grain shows through. The surface has been coated with a brushed patina, which is dark in the recesses of the torus. The working edge is painted.

The surface may have been re-worked in a restoration, though it seems likely to represent the original intention.