Wooden Picture Frame a Tiffany?

Q: We own a large wooden picture frame with extensive gold-colored metal embellishments. We were told the frame was “a Tiffany” and that it hung in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock during the one year (1927-28) John Martineau was governor. What do you think the frame would be worth if the story is true?

A: We can find no reference that says Louis Comfort Tiffany ever made wooden frames. And everything he did make was marked in some way to identify it as “Tiffany.” It is possible that Tiffany & Co., the famous store, sold a frame like yours, but we think the store would also have marked the frame. The histories of some antiques and collectibles become garbled over the years. Still, a large, well-made and elaborately decorated period frame could sell for thousands of dollars.