Featured Old Chair back turned Picture Frame

Hello. I was in St. Kitts (Caribbean) this past week and was given this frame. My mother asked the homeowner if she could purchase it for me for my birthday but the owner declined and generously gave the frame to her. Unfort., I accidently spoiled the surprise upon the return trip..

Anyhow, the homeowner and his family have been on the island for 4 generations and all have been avid collectors of old estate finds (they are very well known on the island) and collecting items the sea brings to them. Truly an amazing house with wonderful things to look at. This particular piece appears to have been the back of a chair at one point but reassigned to being a potential picture frame. I'm curious if anyone can tell me about its origin based on the style. I can not find any markings.

I also feel like I need to moisturize the wood as it is VERY dry.

I snapped the upcoming pictures as I was walking out the door this morning to fly out for work. I would appreciate any feedback you may have! thanks!

 

Pictures..

 

snap more pictures.....

 

Yea. Upon looking at the pictures to post them, I realized they weren't the best. As I mentioned, I quickly snapped them on my way out the door to make my flight. I'll see if I can get my spouse to take some good ones.

 

More pics

 

More pics..

 

Are there any marks on it anywhere that indicate that at any time it was ever hung from the top or attached to a chair seat at the bottom? All those little holes made me think at first that it had been a chair back with something like a needlepoint panel inset. Further examination & consideration make me doubt. However, can't think of anything other than some kind of needle work that would need all those holes to be attached.

 

The piece is curved. Should have mentioned that.... Where indicated with red is where there appears to be where it was sawed off. The cut appears to be an old one as the color is consistent with the rest of the piece. You can see the saw lines but seems to be a very early cut.. Will get pictures of that as well

 

Pic

 

A few of the corners to show where cut.

 

Ah, I get it now. And assume the carved side is concave? What a great way to repurpose a chair that must have been breaking down. I have seen ornately carved frames for presumably broken hand mirrors also used as frames. I'm not being the least bit helpful, just think this one is really fun.

 

what's that jutting into the 1st pic...??

 

Ha. On top of West Indies style stuff, I also collect taxidermy. That would be Nessy, our Mountain Lion

 

Well she's pointing right to where you say are saw marks......so she's still very much on the ball !!

 

That should make one very fascinating picture frame!!!!!! Going to be a fair amount of work, but really neat when done, though!!!!!

 

Why did you stop enlarging your photos???

 

Interesting piece. My best guess is Spanish Colonial origin. Whether a newer revival piece or several hundred years old, I am at a loss.

 

That was my first thought too. Guessing now it was a cane backed chair of this sort:

 

Hi,
Reminds me of when I needed two really large mirrors for either side of a fireplace. I bought the headboard and foot board of an antique French bed and installed mirrors in the bottom half. They looked great and was a lot cheaper.
greg

 

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. On the lookout for the perfect picture. If anyone has idea on how to create the frame, I'm all ears.

Thinking a old palm frown print