| Physical Description | From repair report 2025 (Robert Mitchell Observations):
The painting.
This oil painting portrait is 19th century on excellent quality linen.
The sketchiness in each corners indicate the painting originally hung in a frame with an oval sight size. Possibly one of a pair to Queen Victoria.
In the 20th century the painting was in Chile, South America at the Museum of Santigo. The museum stock number is 5723. The date of export from Chile to the UK is 26.12 1989. The stretcher on the painting made in the 1990, s by Tony Wonfor, a stretcher maker (long retired) working in Diss, Suffolk. Tony made hundreds of stretchers for me, making me familiar with his work.
The painting was linen wax relined, cleaned, restored, and fitted on the stretcher by an unknown restorer.
2025. The painting, damaged in the frame during transit to the Albert Hall. The nails holding the painting doing the damage. The lower corner of the painting was lifting from the lining due to impact. The surface of the painting was lumpy, caused during wax lining. I removed the painting from the lining to inspect the rear of the canvas. There was debris in the wax with lumps of old glue on the back of the canvas that I removed with a surgical scalpel. I cleaned all the wax off the back of the painting and upgraded the painting and support with an up-to-date BEVA conservation adhesive. I relined the painting back onto the linen before fitting the painting back on the stretcher ready for brush restoration and varnishing.
The Frame
The original frame is long gone, replaced by a cutdown Italian mirror frame that was large due to the width of the damaged moulding. The frame was cut to fit the painting around the time of export from Chile. The label indicates the frame is Italian in origin and may well be from Chile travelling with the painting. The moulding is very heavy plaster, and two corners had fresh cuts, joined with flimsy nails, the reason the frame fell apart with pieces of plaster falling off. I manage to reattach pieces back on to the frame and replaced missing parts. The frame, badly patched up after the cutting and joining. I removed bad restoration and made new pieces to blend in with how I wanted the frame to look. Each side
of the frame was a mess with layers of stopper and pigments for me to remove to get a surface that looks right to the viewer. My next problem was to clean and match the gold surface on top and around the sides of the frame. After I finished cleaning and buffing the gold I applied old ochre to the back edge. The frame is now ready for the painting.
Fit the painting into the frame with cork spacers to stabilize the painting in the rebate. Secure painting into frame and paper over. Fit new hanging eyes and wire ready for hanging. |
| Custodial History | Bequest to the Hall 2025 by Gordon Baker's estate |