Oxford frames

'A picture-frame the sides of which cross each other and project some distance at the corners' (Oxford English Dictionary).
'The barbarism called an Oxford frame' (J. T. Micklethwaite, Modern Parish Churches, 1874)

Can anyone document the introduction and origins of the Oxford frame, so popular in the late nineteenth century for prints and reproductions? It would appear that Oxford frames, with their corners crossed in a similar manner to Oxford corners used by printers, took their name from their association with publications of the Oxford Movement (see Susan Lambert, The Image Multiplied, 1987). Charles Eastlake called the type Cruciform, and in America they were usually known as Rustic frames.

Corner details of Oxford frames from Hasluck (see below)

In 1873 The Illustrated Carver and Gilders Guide described Oxford frames as often chosen for sacred subjects: 'They have not been introduced many years, and were originally made in oak, but they are now oftentimes made of deal whitened up and gilded'. In 1886 Percy Fitzgerald, writing in The Art Journal, claimed that 'Some years ago there was a frame in high favour, known as the Oxford frame, four light rods, as it were, crossed and fixed to each other with four nails, with rather attenuated and poverty-stricken effect. The eye turned away offended at the "spiky" character of the whole. This, however, is happily disappearing'.

Nevertheless such frames remained popular until well into this century. Paul Hasluck in Mounting and Framing Pictures, 1906, devotes a whole chapter, pp. 45-62, to making Oxford frames, with thirty-five illustrations. They were still in production as late as 1927 when advertised by John W. Calver & Sons Ltd of Lambeth Hill, London EC4 in their trade catalogue as suitable frames for dressing glasses.

Were there framemakers who made a speciality of Oxford frames? Does anyone know of good surviving examples which are documented by bills or correspondence? When were they first introduced?

Contact address: jsimon@npg.org.uk

Go to a large print, text-only version of this site

All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 25 July 2008