IN MODERN STYLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 149, 26 June 1934, Page 13

IN MODERN STYLE.

PICTURE FRAME TREATMENT.

Mirror glass, which has become the most popular composition for all clasps, buttons, buckles, and also the latest initial craze, is now being utilised in a totally different sphere, namely, for picture frames.

In keeping with the modern trend of all furniture and furnishings, frames are now being designed to fit in with the futuristic decorations of the room; or else they are made to "set off" the modern pictures, with much the same result.

Nowadays a frame is simply a foil for the picture, the elaborate and heavily decorated style having given place to the very plainest type, for which mirror glass is excellent. These frames introduce a pleasantly- live element, which is distinctly helpful to certain types of pictures. A mysterious and subtle factor is lent by the reflection of moving objects and the play of light on the narrow looking glass. Some show a thin line, of colour at the edges with effective results.

Another newcomer to the realm of picture frames is pinewood, which achieves marvellous effects when used in a plain unpolished and unstained condition. A frame of this type was used for a still life etudy of a plant outlined against a cloudless blue sky, when it made the picture appear to stand right , out from the wall.

This pinewood does not introduce any conflicting interests with the pallid furnishings of to-day, while the slightly ornamental designs with their gently undulating surfaces possess a certain dignity that is never attained by "fussier" types.

"Distressing" is the delightfully descriptive term given to the new technique applied to gilt frames. The treatment accorded to the golden surface changes it from a rather insistent and pompous affair to a mere gleam of gold, espied through a windswept surface. Many uses may be found for the oldstyle frames which have to be discarded. Some may be adapted for surrounds to the newer types of fireplace, while the smaller ones suggest tea traye, fire screens, and a host of minor uses.