Framar
WOW Framer
I DID NOT MAKE THIS FRAME!!! The artist who painted the painting did - which is highly unusual in itself but this frame is 90% cowhide and 10% masonite and brass.
The artist and framer is Gikonyo Maina, a leading Kenyan artist and the subject matter is a portrait of Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan nationalist and anti-colonial leader of the Mau Mau. He was captured and hanged by the British colonial government in Kenya in 1957. Kimathi was the commander and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau, also known as the Land and Freedom Movement.
This "icon" is framed in a most fascinating manner. As far as I can tell, the painting is cut and mounted onto this masonite. Then three or four layers of heavy cowhide are glued around it and adorned with lacing and the arched top.
The framer also utilized a rudimentary fillet of brass rods, glued into place along the inside edges of the leather frame.
My customer brought it to me to have two additional slots cut into the outer edges at the top of the frame for the leather strap upon which the painting hangs. Altogether theframe and masonite backing are over 1/2" thick!
I was chosen to "complete" the strap because my customer had commissioned the piece and had a plane to catch before the artist/framer could finish it!
I thought y'all might find this as fascinating as I did. Anyone ever seen anything like it before?
This is what the frame looks like on the back - I glued the ends of the strap into place with Weldbond and clamped it for 24 hours.
I think this is surely one of the most unusual approaches to framing that I have ever seen!
The artist and framer is Gikonyo Maina, a leading Kenyan artist and the subject matter is a portrait of Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan nationalist and anti-colonial leader of the Mau Mau. He was captured and hanged by the British colonial government in Kenya in 1957. Kimathi was the commander and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau, also known as the Land and Freedom Movement.
This "icon" is framed in a most fascinating manner. As far as I can tell, the painting is cut and mounted onto this masonite. Then three or four layers of heavy cowhide are glued around it and adorned with lacing and the arched top.
The framer also utilized a rudimentary fillet of brass rods, glued into place along the inside edges of the leather frame.
My customer brought it to me to have two additional slots cut into the outer edges at the top of the frame for the leather strap upon which the painting hangs. Altogether theframe and masonite backing are over 1/2" thick!
I was chosen to "complete" the strap because my customer had commissioned the piece and had a plane to catch before the artist/framer could finish it!
I thought y'all might find this as fascinating as I did. Anyone ever seen anything like it before?



This is what the frame looks like on the back - I glued the ends of the strap into place with Weldbond and clamped it for 24 hours.
I think this is surely one of the most unusual approaches to framing that I have ever seen!