Tarnished Silver Picture Frames from Frames by Edward Wright
Typically commercial finishes are produced using a process of applying layers of color, glaze, and shellac which adds something to the gilded surface. Silver is tarnished, however, by altering the surface of the silver with a chemical solution. This creates a genuine historical effect that is hard to emulate in any other way.
Frames by Edward Wright uses old world techniques in water gilding our precious metal frames. After gesso is applied we sand the frame to a smooth surface which will intensify the brilliant silver finish. We apply a base coat of yellow clay, and then apply one of eight clay colors before water gilding silver leaf. The clay color is chosen to coordinate with the artwork which will be placed inside the frame, as the hue of the delicate silver leaf is affected by the underlying clay color. Click here to view photos of our available clay colors.
These tarnished silver finishes can be seen on any of our samples with the finish ending in "TS".
Below are a few examples from our extensive catalog of tarnished silver frames created by Frames by Edward Wright. Click each thumbnail to view a detailed image of tarnished silver frame corner.
