of differing lengths. One nail subsequently caused a horizontal crack
(Smith et al. 1989:32, 37, fig. 7).
The method of nailing panels rigidly into frames seems to have
become generally employed as soon as frames were recognized as separate
from the paint support. It is not uncommon to findpanel paintings in
British private collections that have been secured in this way and left
undisturbed for generations. A pair of early-seventeenth-century portraits
of Edward Altham and Elizabeth Altham, from Kingston Lacy House in
Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust, survive in their origi-
nal frames and have received little, if any, structural conservation mea-
sures. Pinned tightly at regular intervals around the edges, the panels, each
formed of three vertical oak planks, have been unable to move in response
to changing levels of RH. A joint in each panel has failed. In the portrait
of the man, the detached section of the panel was simply pinned at a later
date with nails of later construction (Figs. 4, 5). At some time before
the 1730s, in common with a large number of paintings in the collection,
the panels were painted on the reverse with a red, probably ochreous,
paint.^6 This paint layer runs into the split and over the back of the frame,
suggesting that the joint had already failed by 1730, as a result of wide
fluctuations of RH possibly caused by relocation of the painting; perhaps
it was removed to a less well buffered area of the house, such as the attic
or servants’ quarters, when the style of the portraits became unfashion-
able or the significance of the sitters was forgotten. The depth of the
rabbet of the frame is only about 2 mm greater than the average 6 mm
thickness of the panels, indicating that no space for movement was
allowed for by the frame maker.
Aseventeenth-century view of a church interior after Neefs,
from Grimesthorpe Castle in Lincolnshire, has horizontally aligned planks
(Fig. 6). The panel has a history of structural failure, as the uppermost
join has opened and has been reglued while misaligned. This initial failure436 McClure
Figure 4, below
British school, Portrait of Edward Altham,1617.
Oil on oak panel, 78.8 3 63.5 cm. National
Trust, Kingston Lacy House, Dorset, England.
The condition before treatment is shown; the
frame is original.
Figure 5, below right
British school, Portrait of Edward Altham.
Reverse before removal from the frame.