Under a summer sun
1895

• Tom HUMPHREY

The frame appears in the Thallon ledger under an entry for the National Gallery of Victoria in 1898: Mar 20, National Gallery. Preparing and gilding 1 frame 3ft 7 x 2ft 9, 51/2, ‘Under a Summer Sun’ £1-14. The dimensions correspond to the outside dimensions of the frame. Like the entry for Arthur Streeton’s ‘The purple noon’s transparent might’ (33-2) and David Davies’ Moonrise (p.402.5-1), this one may be descriptive of finishing or re-finishing rather than the making of the frame. The cost re-enforces this idea. The frame was refitted to the painting in 1985 after being found in storage. It is one of a number of wide-format frames, which have been re-established with their paintings and thus reflect a taste that might otherwise have been lost. See also the frames on Tom Roberts’ The Sunny South (1078-4) and John Longstaff’s Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th,1898 (48-2) among others.

The frame is simple in construction, using a wide single plank of timber for the basic profile. The rounded leading edge is made from the addition of a half-round timber section. The corners are all mitred with re-enforcement across the reverse. The rebate is established by the addition of battens to the reverse. The surface appears to be gold leaf on a white base. The whole surface is matte, with a strong indication of brush marks suggesting deliberate patination.

The mitres are open slightly, due to the contraction, across the grain, of the wide plank. The surface is worn with minor losses to the gilding and ground. There is little doubt the surface coating is deteriorated but the frame reads well nonetheless.