Saucy! Painting

Oil on canvas. Still life painting of HP Sauce. This is a framed painting. Reference material created using my own photographs and drawings. Varnished and framed in a traditionally handmade baroque brown gesso frame. Please see below for full description. The original recipe for the sauce was invented and developed in 1899 by Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham. Garton sold the recipe for the sum of £150 to settle a debt with Edwin Samson Moore, the founder of the Midlands Vinegar Company, who launched what we know and love today as HP Sauce. HP stands for 'Houses of Parliament' as it was rumoured the sauce was used in the restaurant there, back at the turn of the 20th century. FRAME As an artist I was constantly disappointed with the way modern made frames would look with my work so I began to explore old techniques and recipes. Frames are constructed from top quality hardwood using best quality glue with strengthened corner joints. Once sanded, the frames are finished following a process which pre-dates the renaissance and is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt. The frame receives on average eight coats of gesso (natural hide glue mixed with chalk) and is allowed to dry. It is then sanded and polished. Finally the frame is then given a protective coating of bees wax producing a unique soft velvety finish.