Finishing a Hogarth Frame

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 The frame has now been joined and ready for finishing

The cherry wood is first stained with a dark van-dyke brown water stain. I then glaze a thinish coat of yellow ochre over this, to add some solidity to the colour. Next I paint the compo ornaments with yellow bole and top this, on the high points, with some red

As the running pattern ornament is to be oil gilded, I can  paint on several coats of black shellac without worrying too much if some gets on the ornaments. Three coats are usually sufficient and with careful de-nibbing between coats. When the black laquer is dry, the running pattern is sealed with a thin coat of clear shellac.
And when that is dry, I first mask out the blackened cherry wood, and apply a thin film of 12hour gold size. For the brightest gilding, it is always best to use a long set size and remove as much surplus as possible during application.

The ornaments are now gilded and the masking removed to reveal the completed work.
After allowing the frame to dry sufficiently, I first seal the gilding with some clear shellac and then attack the frame with  several distressing techniques to age the overall frame.
I'll then colour the gilding and cherry wood with several coats of Museum Ageing Glaze 2, before
polishing the black with some wax.

And there we have it, an antiqued Hogarth Frame.