Black and Gold Picture Frame with a Gilded Inner Frame

This black and gold picture frame is for paintings that want a dark surround with real gold at the edge of the image. The black moulding gives the frame its weight, and the gilded inner frame stands between it and the paint, so the gold sits right against the painting. I make each frame to the size of one particular work, and the gilding is genuine gold leaf, laid and burnished by hand.

The profile

Against the painting sits the gilded inner frame, the part framers call a slip. From the edge of the picture it is formed by a hollow and, behind it, a flat 4 mm wide. The slip is set into the black outer moulding, which opens with a quarter-round hollow, a cavetto, followed by a short flat and a small half-round bead. Beyond the bead a large hollow takes up the centre of the moulding. It rises towards the outer edge and passes, by way of a small flat, into a convex quarter-round, an ovolo, which crowns the section at the highest point of the frame. The outer side is lightly undercut with a half-round hollow.

Specification

• Style: black and gold, black outer moulding with a separate gilded inner frame
• Outer moulding finish: hand painted black, satin sheen, waxed
• Gilding: inner frame water gilded in 22-karat moon gold leaf over gesso and red bole, burnished with an agate stone, sealed with shellac and wax
• Moulding width: 62 mm overall (outer moulding 52 mm, gilded inner frame about 10 mm)
• Moulding thickness (face to back): 38 mm
• Rebate: 7 mm wide, 10 mm or 20 mm deep, chosen in the product options
• Material: timber low in tannins, of the kind used in museum work and art conservation
• Corners: mitred at 45 degrees and reinforced with wooden splines
• Glazing, backing and mount: additional options, quoted individually
• Mounting and hanging: sprung clips and picture wire as standard
• Suits: oils and acrylics on canvas; works on paper and photographs with glazing
• Lead time: 20–30 working days

Order to the dimensions of the artwork, not of the frame. I make it 2 to 3 mm larger so that the work sits without strain, and the moulding overlaps the edge of the image by about 4 to 5 mm.

Which paintings and interiors it suits

It is made for oil and acrylic paintings on canvas: portraits, still lifes and landscapes, and contemporary painting in strong colour, where a defined gilded edge separates the image from the black. At 62 mm wide it stays in proportion with small and medium formats and sits as easily on a white gallery wall as in a panelled room. With glazing and a mount added, it will also take a work on paper or a photograph. It belongs with my gold gilded and partially painted picture frames, where the gold is placed on one element.

How it is made

Both frames are joined before any finish goes on, with mitred corners reinforced with wooden splines. The outer moulding is painted black by hand over a prepared ground, in several coats rubbed down between them, then waxed to a satin sheen. The inner frame is prepared with several layers of gesso and then red bole, and the leaf is laid on water, leaf beside leaf with an overlap of about a millimetre, which makes a single layer of gold. The sheets are about 80 mm square, so for an inner frame this narrow each one is cut down by hand on the gilder’s cushion. The gold is then burnished with an agate stone and sealed with traditional shellac and wax. I describe the method in full on my water gilding page.

How it differs from a factory frame

A factory frame is usually cut from lengths painted or foiled beforehand, so every corner shows a join, and any gold is metallic paint or foil. Here both frames are joined first and finished afterwards, the black is brushed on by hand, and the inner frame carries genuine gold leaf burnished to a high shine. Each frame is made singly, for one painting.

Functionality

The frame is supplied without glazing, ready for a canvas on a stretcher or a panel. The rebate is 7 mm wide and its depth follows the picture thickness chosen in the product options: 10 mm, about ⅜ inch, for panels, boards and thinner stretchers, or 20 mm, about ¾ inch, for thicker stretchers. The same moulding can also be made without a rebate, as a floating frame with a shadow gap around the canvas.

Frequently asked questions

Is the whole frame gilded, or only the inner frame?

Only the inner frame is gilded, in genuine 22-karat moon gold leaf; the outer moulding is hand painted black. Gold across the whole face would be a different frame at a different price, so please write to me for that.

Which gold tone should I choose for an oil painting?

The frame is shown in 22-karat moon gold, paler and cooler than 23-karat yellow, which suits cool greys, blues and greens. For warm, earthy palettes and older varnished oils, 23-karat yellow is the more natural choice; 12-karat white gold gives a light tone close to silver. I can gild the inner frame in any of the three, and my picture frame colour and material guide covers colours and finishes more widely.

Can this frame take conservation-grade low-reflection UV glazing?

Yes. Low-reflection UV glazing, an acid-free mount and a Dibond backing can all be added; choose the 20 mm (about ¾ inch) picture thickness so there is room for them. Glazing is quoted separately, by size.

Complete framing – additional options

Every frame I make can be completed with full archival and museum-quality framing: anti-reflective UV-filtering glass (four classes to choose from), acid-free museum mat board, spacers wrapped in acid-free paper and a Dibond backing. This kind of mounting protects the work from light, acids and distortion. I set out the full glass and material specification on a separate page: archival and museum framing for paintings and photographs. All components are available at extra cost, as an individual quote on request.

Mounting and hanging

Sprung clips are fitted as standard. They turn aside to let the work in and back to hold it, and they cope with anything from a thin board to a stretched canvas. Brass plates with screws are available on request and are supplied loose, for permanent fixing once the work is in place. Hanging orientation, vertical or horizontal, is chosen from the order menu. Picture wire is fitted as standard, and a single D-ring hanger can be fitted instead if you ask for it.

Ordering made to measure

Enter the width and height of the artwork in the calculator and add the frame to the basket. In the options you choose the picture thickness, which sets the rebate depth, and the picture setting, vertical or horizontal.

The gold tone of the inner frame and the colour of the bole beneath the leaf can be changed on request, and the outer moulding can be painted in another colour from a curated, richly pigmented paint range, in satin sheen or high gloss. Write to me before ordering if you would like any of these.

The base price shown is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of the artwork is not the whole length of moulding a frame consumes: mitres cut at 45 degrees take extra length at every corner, and the wider the moulding, the more they take. The calculator accounts for the full consumption of moulding including the corners, together with the options you select.

For this moulding width the calculator handles artworks up to 180 cm around the perimeter; anything larger is made to individual order, so send me the dimensions and I will price it. The calculator prices the frame alone, without glazing. Lead time is 20–30 working days.