Cream and Gold Picture Frame

This cream and gold picture frame sets a calm, ivory-painted cove between two bands of moon gold. The wide profile gives an oil painting a quiet, gallery-grade surround, while the softly patinated gilding carries the eye back into the work. Every gilded painting frame here is cut to one particular canvas, not to a stock size.

The profile

At the artwork side the face opens with a half-round hollow about 6 mm wide, and directly beyond it runs a full half-round bead some 8 mm across. Both are gilded and together they form a narrow band of metal at the inner edge, in which the hollow gathers light and the bead throws it back. The face then widens into a broad swept cove, the largest element of the whole section: it begins almost flat and climbs ever more steeply outwards, taking up close to half the width of the moulding. The cove closes against a narrow step, and on that step sits the rounded outer edge, roughly 10 mm across and gilded as well, where the moulding reaches its highest point. A second half-round hollow is routed into the outer side and runs the full length of the frame. The broad cove and the outer side stay painted in ivory.

Specification

• Style: gallery, classic-contemporary
• Finish: ivory painted face, several shades available, satin sheen; gilding hand-patinated
• Moulding width: 52 mm
• Moulding thickness (face to back): 38 mm
• Rabbet: 7 mm wide × 10 or 20 mm deep
• Material: solid timber with a low tannin content, used in museum conservation
• Corner joinery: mitred at 45°, reinforced with wooden splines
• Gilding: genuine 22-karat moon gold leaf, water-gilded over grey bole
• Glass, backing and matting: available as optional additions
• Artwork retention: spring clips standard, brass plates on request
• Hanging: portrait or landscape, picture wire as standard
• Suitable for: oil paintings and works on canvas, stretchers up to 10 or 20 mm thick

I make the frame to the dimensions of your artwork, so please enter the width and height of the work itself. The frame is cut 2 to 3 mm larger as a technical clearance, and the moulding overlaps the edge of the artwork by about 4 to 5 mm.

Suitable artworks and interiors

A pale, cream surround with a gilded edge suits oil paintings and works on canvas in warm or muted palettes: portraits, landscapes, still lifes and contemporary painting. Moon gold is cooler and paler than classic yellow gold, so the metal reads as a quiet outline rather than a competing colour. The frame settles as easily into a classic room as into a bright, gallery-style space. If you are weighing up width and profile, my notes on framing oil paintings take the decisions in order, and this model sits alongside the other gilded and partially painted picture frames.

Craftsmanship and finish

The profile itself is milled on the machine; everything after that is done by hand. Once the moulding is cut, the corners are mitred at 45° and reinforced with wooden splines before any ground goes on. The timber is built up in layers of gesso and grey bole, and over that ground the gilding is carried out with genuine 22-karat moon gold leaf, leaf beside leaf with an overlap of about a millimetre, forming a single even layer. Leaf comes in sheets of roughly 80 by 80 mm, so for bands as narrow as the hollow and the bead each sheet is cut to width on the gilder's cushion. The gold is then patinated by hand, letting the grey bole show faintly through and cooling the shimmer to a lunar tone. The cove and the outer side are painted in ivory from a curated, richly pigmented paint range, then waxed to a satin sheen.

How it differs from a mass-produced frame

A factory frame is usually profile wrapped in foil that imitates gold or wood, cut to a stock size and stapled at the corners. Here the gilding is real metal on a water-based ground, the ivory is built up in paint rather than printed, and the mitres are splined so the joint holds as the timber moves. The same finish is also made up as a cream framed mirror gilded with gold leaf.

Functionality

The frame is supplied without glass, so nothing separates the viewer from the painted surface. The rabbet comes in two depths: 10 mm for standard stretchers and panels, 20 mm for deeper gallery stretchers. The same profile can be made without a rabbet, as a floating or shadow frame, with the canvas set forward so that it appears to hover inside the surround. My guide to types of picture frames for canvas paintings sets the constructions side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Is this frame suitable for an oil painting on canvas?

Yes. The rabbet, in either depth, is designed around stretchers and painting panels. Measure your stretcher bar and choose the depth that clears it.

Which gold is the frame gilded with?

Genuine 22-karat moon gold leaf, water-gilded over grey bole and patinated by hand. It is paler and cooler than classic 23-karat yellow gold, which is why it suits ivory.

Can I order the frame without glass, for the stretcher alone?

Yes, that is the standard version. Glass, backing and matting are available as additions, described below.

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

The frame is supplied without glass, ready to hold a painting on a stretcher. As standard the artwork is secured from the back with spring clips: they rotate aside, so a canvas can be fitted or swapped quickly. On request I supply brass plates with screws instead, sent loose for you to fit yourself, for a permanent mount.

The frame is prepared for hanging in portrait or landscape orientation, so please say at the order stage which way the painting will hang. Picture wire is fitted as standard; a single D-ring is available on request.

Made-to-measure ordering

Measure the width and height of the work to within 0.1 cm and enter them in the shop calculator (for example 35 × 30.3 cm).

The base price shown on the page is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of the painting alone is not the full length of moulding the frame needs: the 45° mitred corners take up extra length, the more so the wider the moulding. The calculator accounts for the full use of moulding with corners and any options you select.

The online price calculator supports artwork sizes up to 120×80 cm. Larger formats are made to individual order. The lead time is 20–30 working days.