Where the title of the exhibition draws comparison with Henry Raeburn, this frame type is one which can be stylistically linked to those found on the work of Raeburn at this time. Although the cabling is slightly looser than normally expected, the frame is almost identical to those previously linked to an Edinburgh framemaker c.1800, Alexander Thomson. Both of these gilt frames have an appropriate date for association with Thomson who worked nearby Skirving, at the Head of Calton from 1799 to 1809. The glass has a discrepancy common to the broad glass method of production, the manufacturing technique which entailed flattening the sheet of glass from a cylindrical shape. The inside sight edge is wider at the corners than in the centre, in order to fit the bowed shape of the front of the glass.
Slight ripples are visible in the glass.
The evidence would indicate that works were framed and glazed in the studio before going to the patron, so that Skirving would have inevitably played a decisive role in the choice of frames. These inventories are shown in the exhibition along with the original bill from the Edinburgh firm of carvers and gilders, Chalmers and Son, which spans the years 1814 to 1818. Chalmers' bill shows that they supplied Skirving with London crown glass and plate glass. Crown glass would only have been used on the smaller works as panes were cut from discs spun to a maximum diameter of four feet. William Chalmers was first listed in the Post Office Directories in 1799 as a 'picture framer and gilder' with his son, Thomas, later joining him in partnership.