The Sunderland Frame

English, circa 1665, carved pine and gilded 'Sunderland' frame with auricular ornament surmounted by a cartouche and a grotesque mask at the bottom.

(Frame ref. 11673)

Copyright Arnold Wiggins & Sons

The ‘Sunderland’ frame pattern takes its name from the Second Earl of Sunderland, Robert Spencer. This frame style was most likely dubbed the ‘Sunderland frame’ in the 19th century. The pattern has its origins in an earlier auricular style and in the 17th century was often referred to by artists and craftsmen as ‘guilt leatherwork’.

The ‘Sunderland’ frame style is characterized by a cartouche at the top, grotesque mask at the bottom, and leafy ornament incorporating cartilaginous and lobe like forms that suggest grotesques or heads of beasts. The swirls of ornament, unusually, form an indented and uneven inner and outer edge.

The ‘Sunderland’ frame is a distinctive English frame style, examples of which can be seen as a house framing style at Althorp, Ham House, and Kingston Lacey.

EXAMPLES OF PAINTINGS FRAMED IN SUNDERLAND FRAMES

Sir Peter Lely, Portrait of the Duchess of York . Althorp House, Northampton UK

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Lady Frances Cranfield Countess of Dorset, Knole, Kent, UK

Sir Peter Lely, Sir William Compton, Ham House, Richmond UK