Frame made of industrial copper alloyed steel

Has anybody come across an art frame made of Wheeling COP-R-LOY
(industrial copper alloyed steel)?

We have a tempera (gouache) painting by Tim Vigil of Tesuque Pueblo
(Ku Se Peen) with a late date of 1955. The unusual part is its
frame.  The homemade frame is made of industrial steel, with two
flat pieces welded to become a solid back with curved sections
(piping, perhaps?) welded to each edge.  The rounded edges curl
around the glazed artwork, and the painting cannot be removed or
accessed without taking apart the frame.

Neither the curator, myself, nor any of the experts we have asked,
have seen anything like it.  The curator would like to reframe it
because it is very heavy and not particularly stylish, but we don't
want to make any decisions (destroy it) without knowing more about
it (specifically, did the artist make it?). It doesn't appear to
being doing harm to the artwork.

Have you come across anything like this?  I have pictures that I can
send to interested individuals.

Victoria Book
Chief Conservator
Gilcrease Museum
918-596-2714


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:53
                   Distributed: Monday, May 30, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-53-016
                                  ***