What material are most antique photo frames?

Brass dominates. It is named in 60 of the 217 titles on Sellingantiques, ahead of gilt, silver, bronze and ormolu. After brass, the Art Deco group brings in chrome, bakelite, marble, nickel plate and bevelled glass. Tortoiseshell, crocodile and tooled leather form a smaller, steady seam.

Which periods do these frames come from?

The dated field runs from 1870 to 1960, and 151 of the 217 listings carry a clean year. There are two peaks. The 1930s account for 37 listings and the 1900s for 33, with the 1880s, 1890s and 1910s each around twenty. Later entries dated 1940 and 1960 are framed photographic material rather than frames.

How many come up for sale each year?

Around 22 come to market in a year, and 72 different dealers have listed one. That spread says something about the category: almost every dealer carries a frame at some point, and nobody specialises in them.

Are pairs and multi-aperture frames common?

Pairs run to 21 titles, alongside one collection of three Art Deco frames and one set of four Italian gilt frames. Multiple apertures go further here than in most frame categories. Beyond the 13 doubles there are triples, a tri-photo frame, triptychs, and both an Edwardian and a brass six-fold frame.

Why are picture frames listed in this category?

A fifth of the listings are picture frames or framed photographs rather than photograph frames, and that share is rising in current stock. They include gesso and carved wood picture frames, mounted sepia photographs, autochromes and framed studies. The two entries filed as 18th century and the one filed as 17th belong to this group.

What unusual forms turn up?

The odd ones appear once each. A folk-art string frame in an octagram star, a six-fold travelling brass mount holding an 1878 miniature almanac, a carte-de-visite table-top display box frame. There is also an Art Deco skyscraper frame, a toucan frame, a cold-painted bulldog with a frame attached, and a Venetian glass frame described as very large. Uncommon origins show the same pattern: Kashmiri walnut, carved Indian ebony, Biedermeier birds-eye maple, and Italian micromosaic, pietra dura and Sorrento ware.