Picture Framing: History, choices and design

Before the 17th Century there were no real ‘picture frames’ in the modern sense of the term. Wall decoration throughout the Middle Ages was accomplished with frescoes, murals, wall paintings and tapestries.

Precursors of the modern frame began appearing in the late 15th Century as flat mouldings to surround painted religious panels. As the grip of the church began receding and new forms of art as esthetic concepts of nature and natural forces began to take hold, moveable pictures became more and more commonplace. And so the frames around them.

Historically these picture frames utilized decorative details taken from Greco-Roman antiquity. Richly varied ornaments such as those used on portal surrounds, door panels, window jams and column capitals were incorporated into frame design.

Carving, gilding, and painting techniques flourished and frame making became a major established industry throughout the world. In Europe the French, Spanish, Italians, Dutch, English and others produced original designs, and framing styles evolved along with the art it supported. Indeed, today, the restoration of these historical frames competes in importance with the manufacture of new frames.

How then, does one choose a frame?

There are three basic criteria involved. The esthetics of the item being framed, the physical needs of the item being framed, and the setting into which it will be placed.

The physical needs of the item are perhaps the easiest to address. Here, the relation of the strength of the moulding and the weight of the item is critical. A large painting weighting 50 lbs. or more simply cannot tolerate a moulding that is 1” wide, 1” deep and with a shallow rabbet groove.

Matting is necessary to keep the glazing away from works on paper to prevent mould forming from vapor condensation. Likewise, glazing with an UV filter goes a long way to prevent fading.

The esthetics of the item and the requirements of the setting involve more complex choices. Should you put family photos into original Louis XIII frames? Not really, unless the room has period French furnishings, your decorator suggests doing so, and you can afford it.

Original period art, paintings or works on paper, should have ‘proper’ framing. A Dutch painting from 1800 should always be framed in a period Dutch frame, either an original or a reproduction.

On the other hand, a framer who produces hand finished frames can be of great service in providing mouldings to complement decors using such themes as French Country, Tuscan, Classic, Contemporary etc.

Here we come to one of the most important distinctions in custom framing. The great majority of frame shops sell frames made from commercial pre-finished moulding.

Many of these mouldings are quite beautiful and are entirely appropriate for lower end framing. (Although recently, in an attempt to capture the more expensive market, the prices of some of the commercial mouldings are approaching those of the more valuable ‘true custom’ closed corner frames). The main problems with commercial mouldings are that the carving or other details do not match up in the corners, and they all seem to have a distinct ‘mass produced’ look: probably because they are mass produced.

True custom framing involves the production of closed corner frames: those being finished by hand after the frame is joined. Here, any carving or detail matches perfectly in the corners, subtle variations of finishing are possible, and the frames have a ‘hand finished’ look: probably because they are hand finished.

These are some of the considerations that need to be addressed when choosing custom picture frames.

There are certainly others. It is up to the individual customer, whether working independently or with a professional decorator, to make the final choice.