Framing Sam Washburn and Chez Panisse

Pictures that depict frames and finish trim always offer the frame-maker an opportunity to achieve a high degree of harmony and unity between the picture and the frame.

Such is the case with this Sam Washburn oil on canvas — a view of the Craftsman interior of Berkeley's famous restaurant, Chez Panisse. For the 14" x 18" picture we used a 3" Four-Square Basic (done without the usual reveals on profiles of this frame this size) in Honduran Mahogany with a light stain to harmonize. Mahogany square plugs (they appear darker because you see the end grain, which absorbs more stain). The Craftsman-style interior is carried out by the iconic Craftsman mortise-and-tenon joinery in the frame. The otherwise plain profile works not only with the architectural details depicted, but with the loose painting style. If the picture were more tightly rendered and/or had more detailed and finer line work, then a more formal frame, or at least a more formal liner in this frame, would be called for.