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Stone Framed Portraits: Are these Frames Unique and Who is this Couple? Jane Browning Photos courtesy Jane Browning March 2020 This is the intriguing story about two framed portraits that have been passed down the family to me. I know a little of their history and I have a very rough idea as to who the couple is, but would love to have confirmation of my thoughts. I believe they were a relatively local couple and the frames themselves are certainly extremely unusual. This is the story. The portraits belonged to Barbara Mullens, the cousin of my father Walter Browning. Soon after Barbara first showed them to me, the Swindon and Wiltshire History Centre had a session where they would attempt to date photographs. |
So, Barbara agreed that I should take them along. In this case the dating was based on the wearing apparel. The woman is wearing a pointed bodice, pleated skirt, pagoda sleeves, a detached trim and black under sleeve at the lower part of her arm.
The colour would most likely have been brown, rich purple or dark green and it is well-made, possibly with a silk element.
She has ringlets fanning her face and the cotton and lace decoration is for indoor wear. The man is wearing a stock, the forerunner of the tie. I was given a date of 1850-60, but that could only be an estimate as, in those days, some clothes were worn long after they were fashionable. Putting an age to people of a former age is also rather difficult as people generally had a more difficult life style to that which we are used to, making many of them seem older than they were.
The colour would most likely have been brown, rich purple or dark green and it is well-made, possibly with a silk element.
She has ringlets fanning her face and the cotton and lace decoration is for indoor wear. The man is wearing a stock, the forerunner of the tie. I was given a date of 1850-60, but that could only be an estimate as, in those days, some clothes were worn long after they were fashionable. Putting an age to people of a former age is also rather difficult as people generally had a more difficult life style to that which we are used to, making many of them seem older than they were.
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It was put to me that, surely, I would get them conserved! Barbara agreed that I should arrange this, a task which was quite an undertaking. I found out that there were few conservators in the country who could tackle the job. I ended up having to take them (and collect them after conservation) to Cambridgeshire; one of the conditions of the contract was that transport was the responsibility of the client.
As they were heavy (see below) and old, I thought it best not to entrust them to a courier, and so found myself crossing the country. Our job was obviously at the bottom of the pile with the task taking rather a long time, the firm being involved in work for top museums and other organisations. The photographs, for that is what they are, are opalites (a type of glass). But it is the frames that are intriguing. They are stone! Hence the weight of them that made me not want to send them through the post. I was told that this was the first time the framer had seen stone frames. |
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Unfortunately, Barbara had died by the time came for their collection, so I couldn’t ask her for more details, but she had told me how they came to be in her possession. Her mother, my aunt Elsie (christened Alice Sarah Browning), was summoned by the husband Price Kinnear Lewes of a second cousin, Ellen Vezey Jones, known as Nell, who had died. Aunt Elsie took Barbara with her. The portraits were handed over to Aunt Elsie, Barbara suggested because Elsie was one of the few family members who had kept in touch.
With this information I discovered that Nell had died in November 1937. That tied in with Barbara’s recollections of the event. Nell had been Price Lewes’ second wife and he remarried in September 1939, so I imagine Price was divesting himself of a previous wife’s belongings before he married the next one.
As to the stone frames, all I can suggest is that Nell’s parents were Walter Jones, a butcher, and Frances Vezey. Frances came from the Box family of Vezeys and on her mother’s side from the Tyleys and Tuckeys of Colerne and Box. I believe her great grandfather, John Tyley was a stone mason, although I stand to be corrected as there were many Tuckeys and, especially Tyleys with various spellings in Colerne. Could it be that the stone frames were made by one of the family, or, at the least, by someone in Box or Colerne? And who is the couple? The photographs are dated about 1850-60, though some newsprint inside the photographs is dated 1868 and the people in the photos are about 40 years old, or possibly more, so born around 1810. Could they be James Vezey 1811-1875 and his wife Frances Tyley, 1810-1868, Nell’s grandparents? Was it to commemorate a special event, such as an anniversary? James and Frances married in 1833. Could it have been for their 20th or 25th wedding anniversary?
With this information I discovered that Nell had died in November 1937. That tied in with Barbara’s recollections of the event. Nell had been Price Lewes’ second wife and he remarried in September 1939, so I imagine Price was divesting himself of a previous wife’s belongings before he married the next one.
As to the stone frames, all I can suggest is that Nell’s parents were Walter Jones, a butcher, and Frances Vezey. Frances came from the Box family of Vezeys and on her mother’s side from the Tyleys and Tuckeys of Colerne and Box. I believe her great grandfather, John Tyley was a stone mason, although I stand to be corrected as there were many Tuckeys and, especially Tyleys with various spellings in Colerne. Could it be that the stone frames were made by one of the family, or, at the least, by someone in Box or Colerne? And who is the couple? The photographs are dated about 1850-60, though some newsprint inside the photographs is dated 1868 and the people in the photos are about 40 years old, or possibly more, so born around 1810. Could they be James Vezey 1811-1875 and his wife Frances Tyley, 1810-1868, Nell’s grandparents? Was it to commemorate a special event, such as an anniversary? James and Frances married in 1833. Could it have been for their 20th or 25th wedding anniversary?
Are there any other photos hidden away in someone’s drawer which show a likeness to this couple? I would love to know.