Art Nouveau Silver Photograph Frame by Henry Matthews 1903

This lovely Art Nouveau photograph frame was saved from destruction by a very good friend who spotted it languishing in the bottom of a mixed box of items he recently bought at a provincial auction. He delivered us the; silver cleaner caked frontispiece, bald velvet, rotten silk and the underpinning wooden structure in several pieces. As you can see from our photographs the silver did not survive totally unscathed, suffering two small rim losses and a dented cartouche. Nevertheless, we too saw the elegance of the Art Nouveau style of the silver and undertook a restoration of the rest; replacing the worn velvet, installing new silk, consolidating the wooden frame and replacing the absent glass with some from a similar period. All in all, we hope you will agree that this frame punches above its weight and, despite its past still portrays the elegance of the Art Nouveau movement with a great deal of aplomb.