This is the frame for facsimile of King Charles I’s death warrant. It needed surface cleaning before the warrant could be restored to the frame. Three of the four corner shields were missing, so I made replacements for them. This would make the frame more appealing to the eye when back on display. It is well documented which is the original (and you can tell by looking closely).

The main frame is oak and the inner frame is constructed of pine. The pine frame no longer fit once the death warrant was properly mounted.

The first step was removing the institution’s historic label from the frame’s backing paper. It was removed by hand, with light humidification, and encapsulated in a Melinex pouch to be attached to the frame’s new backing board.

The encapsulated label was attached to the corrugated backboard in a style similar to the warrant mounted on its backboard (see The Death Warrant: Part 1). Strips of paper were attached to the label and fed through slits in the corrugated board.

A rubbing was taken of the remaining corner shield and used as the template for three new shields. These were also cut out of oak. Watercolors were used to attain the desired color. The shields were adhered in their original positional with animal glue.

Wax was applied after the glue dried to achieve the desired finish.

At this point the glass was cleaned, the mounted parchment warrant was put in the frame, and the corrugated backboard was nailed into place and the edges were sealed with paper gum tape.

Check out The Death Warrant: Part 1 for the treatment of the warrant!