Casina 10 — Black Picture Frame with Hand-Gilded Detail, Made to Measure

Casina 10 is a wide, classical picture frame in deep black, with a quiet gilded detail at the inner edge of its broad face. The dominant surface is a smooth, flat frieze; a narrow band of gold leaf leads the eye inward to the artwork without competing with it. The form is legible but never literal — equally at home around contemporary oil painting and around classical drawings, watercolours or archival photography. Part of the wider black picture frames range.

The profile is built from four architectural elements. The outer edge descends as a stepped cyma — a sequence of cascading levels characteristic of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish frames. The dominant surface is a wide frieze — a smooth, gently sloped field painted deep black, which carries most of the visual weight. Toward the artwork it steps down to a narrow gilt lip, the only reflective accent in the composition. Concealed behind the lip is the rabbet, where the artwork sits; it is not visible from the front.

The photographs show the two most popular finish variants of the same frame: 23-karat gold leaf over red bole — the classical option, warm and deep in tone — and 22-karat moon gold over red bole — a cooler, paler variant with a subtly silvered reflection. Both are chosen at the time of order.

Which artwork and interiors it suits

The wide, severely geometric form of Casina 10 gives weight to compositions with strong painterly presence — abstraction, expressive landscape, large-format black-and-white photography. The gilded inner edge also lets it work in classical settings: drawings, watercolours, monochrome prints, archival photographs and diplomas. It sits well in contemporary interiors with antique accents, in private galleries, studies and hallways. On matching profile width to format and character of the work, see types of picture frames for canvas paintings.

Specification

• Style: classical, Dutch-style — stepped cyma on the outer edge, wide frieze, gilt lip on the inner edge
• Face finish: deep black, hand-sanded, satin
• Gilding: genuine 23-karat gold leaf over red bole, hand-patinated
• Profile width: 100 mm
• Profile depth: 50 mm
• Rabbet dimensions: 7 mm width × up to 20 mm depth
• Material: solid low-tannin timber, used in museology and art conservation
• Corner joinery: mitred corners reinforced with wooden splines (conservator's technique)
• Surface protection: traditional shellac and wax
• Floater variant: available without rabbet as a floating frame for canvas on stretcher
• Lead time: 20–30 working days

The dimensions you enter in the calculator refer to the artwork — not the outer frame. The frame is made with a 2–3 mm technical clearance so the work slides in easily; the 7 mm rabbet overlaps the face of the work by approximately 4–5 mm.

Workmanship

The timber is a low-tannin species used for centuries in museology and art conservation for its dimensional stability and chemical neutrality. The corners are joined with mitres reinforced by wooden splines — a traditional joinery technique in which a hardwood key is driven into the cut to lock the 45° seam. The joint is invisible from the front and keeps the frame dimensionally stable for decades.

The black face is laid in a richly pigmented paint from a curated, craftsman's palette, then hand-sanded between coats to a uniform satin surface. The gilded band along the inner edge is prepared in the traditional way: chalk gesso ground, red bole, polished with an agate burnisher, then 23-karat gold leaf laid by hand. The edge is hand-patinated with pigmented wax — a fine, even softening that gives a newly made frame a quiet sense of age. The whole is sealed with shellac and wax, in the manner of traditional water gilding.

How it differs from mass production

Casina 10 is built by hand to order, from genuine gold leaf and solid timber. Gilding over chalk gesso and red bole is the conservator's standard — a finish that no metallic paint or substitute leaf can reproduce. Patination is done by hand, so every frame has its own quiet rhythm of reflection. Spline-joined mitres rather than glued butts, layered shellac and wax rather than spray lacquer, hand-sanded paint rather than machine finish — these are differences felt up close, and confirmed each time the frame goes back on the wall. Casina 10 also belongs to the gold-gilded and partially painted picture frames range, a segment Karol has worked in for over two decades.

Functionality and hanging

Casina 10 is supplied without glass — as a setting for canvas on a stretcher, a panel painting, or any other ground up to 20 mm thick. Artwork retention in the rabbet is offered in two variants, selected from the menu: spring clips, factory-fitted and rotated aside to swap the artwork, or screwed brass plates, supplied loose with screws included, installed by the client once the work is placed in the frame. Hanging orientation — portrait or landscape — is chosen from the variant menu; the frame is fitted only in the chosen orientation. Standard hanging is by cord; a single D-ring hanger is available on request.

Complete framing — additional options

Every frame can be completed with a full archival mounting prepared in the workshop: glass, archival backing and matting. All components are available as a custom add-on — quote on request.

Glass — four classes available

Opti White, 4mm — low-iron glass with a neutral, colourless appearance (no green tint typical of standard float glass). Available up to 90×90 cm — the only option for larger works.

Ultra Vue UV70 (Tru Vue), 2.0mm — anti-reflective glass with 70% UV protection, low-iron. Available up to 60×80 cm.

Art View — premium-class anti-reflective glass: reflection reduced below 1%, up to 75% UV protection, scratch-resistant coating, low-iron, can be cut and mounted from either side. Meets ISO 18916 (Photographic Activity Test) — safe for archival photography. Premium quality at an accessible price. Available up to 60×80 cm.

Optium Museum Acrylic (Tru Vue) — top-tier museum acrylic: over 99% UV protection, museum-grade reflection reduction, anti-static, lightweight, shatter-resistant. The museum standard for conservation work and archival photography. Available up to 60×80 cm.

Archival backing

Dibond 3mm aluminium composite panel — two layers of aluminium with an acid-free polymer core. Rigid, chemically neutral, dimensionally stable. An industry standard in archival photographic framing and art conservation.

Mounting and matting

Acid-free foam board — chemically neutral, will not yellow over time, will not react with paper or photographic emulsions. Archival standard.

Full museum framing

Combining anti-reflective UV-filtering glass, acid-free matting, Dibond backing and conservation hinging tapes provides a museum-grade mounting — protecting the work from light damage, acid migration from typical framing materials, and mechanical distortion. This type of framing is used in museums, galleries and private collections.

To order: all of the above components are available as a frame add-on on request. Please get in touch with the dimensions of your work and your preferred glass class — I will prepare an individual quote.

Custom ordering

To order Casina 10, measure the artwork to 0.1 cm precision (e.g. 35.2 × 30.8 cm) and enter the dimensions into the calculator on the product page. The calculator computes the price of the finished frame from the perimeter and the options selected. The base price is the price per linear metre of moulding. Mitre cuts at 45° consume additional length — the wider the moulding, the more is consumed. The calculator includes the full length with mitres and any selected add-ons.

The online price calculator supports artwork sizes up to 120×80 cm. Larger formats are made to individual order — please get in touch with the dimensions and the character of the work. Customisation options include the type of gold leaf (23K, 22K moon, 12K white, 6K white), the bole colour (red, brown, black, green, blue, Victorian grey) and the depth of patination. Lead time is 20–30 working days.