Print
Gold Easel with Frame in a Bottle
Date Added: 07 October 2015
"Five years ago, I noticed a miniature framed antique print that I thought would be good taken apart and put back together in a bottle. The print is a 20th C. reproduction of the late 18th C. famous painting ""Master James Alexander Simpson" by English portrait and history painter Arthur William Devis. I found the right width bottle in my bottle collection, a late 19th-early 20th Century swirled-neck bottle embossed "MY WIFE'S SALAD DRESSING CHICAGO", put it in, and made part of an easel. You'd normally finish everything before insertion, so this was backwards. The frame fit perfectly inside and was in the spot I wanted, completely flush with the sides with no movement at all. I was pleased until I knocked the bottle over on my work table and made a chip in the glass, sort of a half bubble like an impact mark that didn't break all the way through. I was so disgusted, I left it for four years in a box hoping to have the glass repaired by a glass restorer. Finally, I decided to just use it. I scrapped the first easel with rounded posts and made this one which matched the frame shape more and added it inside with great difficulty. I topped it off with a late 19th-early 20th Century bobbin and shaped the end to a point, added a hint of gold paint, and finished it off with my favorite crossbar I've made to date, an (appropriate) artist's paint brush. It is currently not signed anywhere or dated, though I plan to add a paper label to the base or write my name on the stopper in the rear. Even with the flaw in the glass and the frame being thick for the easel, I still like how it turned out. My next frame bottle will feature a to-scale frame. It measures 9 1/8" to the top of the stopper."
Type: Gold Easel with Frame in a Bottle   Maker's Name: Wood, Chris
Category: Furniture   Made Where: Scottsville, KY
Bottle Size: 7 5/8" x 2 3/8"   Year Made: 2014, June 24
Bottle Type: MY WIFE'S SALAD DRESSING CHICAGO