Repair of Oval Sterling Silver Picture Frame from 1914

Oval modern style 1914 picture frame repaired and polished
original back of the oval 1914 sterling silver picture frame repaired

Sterling silver oval picture frame from 1914 fully repaired in both the photos (above.) The photos below will show the repair issues in progress.

view of the original damaged picture frame falling apart
brass hinge breaking on the back of the oval sterling silver picture frame

The hinges on the back that held the frame together were broken and pulling out of the wood. (See photos below) The wood on these old frames is usually very old and soft. It’s a problem to figure out how to get these frames to be solid and still use the original parts. For this frame, the customer wanted to keep the leather/fabric backing material. That made this work even more difficult.

Restoration Uses the original parts

broken hinge on antique picture frame must be repaired for reuse in the restoration of the oval antique picture framer
The brass hinge was broken. This was really hard to get apart.
Brass hinge for the easel was broken
Looking at the broken leather/fabric covering after the easel and hinge are taken apart

It is absolutely essential to repair and restore these old frames with the original parts, if possible. There are no replacement parts. The new hinges are not the right size, New hinges are junky brass plated steel. For this reason, I had to repair the hinge after it was removed from the frame. Everything has to go back together securely in the same identical holes.

All silver Repair is done first

The frame arrived with damage to the front top. An incompetent repair person (not me) had tried reattaching the upper hinge with a screw that made a dimple in the front of the frame. This was serious and ugly damage. After hours and hours of work, I was able to push the” dimple damage” back into place. The dimple was not removed with abrasion. The dimple was removed by hours of burnishing or rubbing the silver gently back into place. This does not make the silver frame thinner.

a repair attempt by incompetent jewelry store caused a dimple in the sterling silver frame
a screw damaged the front the of the sterling silver frame.
perfection in the oval sterling picture frame
 

The above photo is a close-up of the front of the frame after the dimple was removed.

 
Back of frame before repair
back of the sterling silver 1914 picture frame after the repair work

The above photos show the back of the sterling silver picture frame before (left photo) and after (right photo).

Note the sterling silver cover for the hinge (at the top of the frame) held the hinge in place even though the wooden core was no longer strong.

The sterling silver at the top of the easel stand added structural integrity to the easel’s wooden core, covered the significant wear of the leather/fabric, and most importantly, prevented the easel from opening too far.