Generally, what is meant by conservation framing is when the materials and methods used are designed to protect and conserve the artwork being framed. This means only using acid free mountboards, UV filtering glass, and reversible mounting methods. As a rule, the artwork should not come into contact with anything that could damage it, paper is especially sensitive to humidity, light, and other external chemicals that can over time degrade or damage it. Conservation framing simply aims to slow down or prevent this by choosing the right materials.

We specialise in conservation mounting, only using reversible hinge mounting to secure your artwork in place.

We will only ever use conservation level, acid free mountboard to mount your artworks onto, and use spacers so that the artwork never comes into contact with the glass.

We also offer drymounting for photography.

We offer a wide selection of low reflective, UV filtering glazing options depending on budget and the artworks sensitivity to light. We can advise best during your consultation.

Artglass AR70:

Artglass AR92:

Artglass AR99:

Artglass Lifetime Acrylic:

We make all our frames by hand, using FSC hardwood. All our frames are ‘closed corner frames’ meaning the frame is built from raw wood and finished as a complete object. This requires skill and takes much longer than using prefinished mouldings however it allows for more interesting joinery and detail.

Like a good piece of furniture it is important that our frames last and look good for years to come. All joinery is undertaken by highly skilled artisans who understand how to work with wood as a natural product.

We design and mill our own mouldings, and all joinery and finishing is done in our studio in Sussex. This means every frame we make is unique and truely bespoke to the artwork and client.

We specialise in bespoke joinery profiles such as curved, notched, or hand carved frames. We also offer many customisable inlays, and spline and dowel joins.

We only use FSC wood for all our frames that we mill, join, shape, and finish ourselves. We like to use the following woods: American Black Walnut, Sapele, Maple, European Ash, American White Oak, Limewood. We can also source Cherry, Cedar, Beech, Tulipwood, Douglas Fir, Iroko, basically any hardwood as long as it is sustainably felled.

The beauty of using wood as a raw, natural ingredient are the infinite permutations of finishes and grain patterns available. We can stain and oil any hardwoods, we try where possible to use low VOC products that are durable.

We offer many colour stains, and painted finishes. We can colour match any colour and offer hand painted or sprayed finishes.

We generally provide subframes and a cleat hanging system for most frames. This provides strength and support for the frame whilst offering a safe and strong hanging method generally prefered by galleries.

We sometimes use hanging wire for smaller frames or if the client requests it.

A full installation and care guide can be found here.