Seventeenth century Italian reproduction frame with hand-painted frieze

Here we were asked to produce a replica of an existing 17th century Italian cassetta frame.  Sections of the moulding were water gilded, while the extermely intricate scrollwork to the frieze required a lengthy process of copying the original design and then drawing this onto the reproduction frame.  The scrollwork then had to be hand-painted using a medium we mixed up here in the workshops.  The frame was aged and distressed to look a little more refined than the antique.  The images show the reproduction frame to the foreground and the antique behind.  The antique frame and commission was from Paul Mitchell Ltd.