Black and Gold Frame for Oil Paintings, Hand-Gilded

This black and gold frame brings together the two things you look for when framing an oil painting on canvas: a restrained, satin-black surround and a narrow, light-catching edge of real gold leaf. The deep, classically modelled profile gives the work a gallery setting that frames the composition without competing with it, the black-and-gold pairing that has dressed oil paintings in the classic gallery and old-master tradition for generations. It suits medium and larger formats: portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and, in the glazed version, works on paper and photographs. Each frame is milled and finished by hand, made to the exact size of your painting.

The profile

The moulding has a substantial, strongly modelled section, 79 mm wide and 67 mm deep. At the sight edge, right against the painting, runs a narrow gilded lip – the only bright element in the whole frame. A small fillet sets it apart from the main face, which forms a broad, gently concave cove that carries light in a soft arc from the painting outward. The profile then rises to a pronounced rounded outer edge, led up to by finer stepped transitions that give the moulding a rhythm visible at an angle. The profile itself is milled, and its flowing line is the result of machining; the handwork lies in the priming, painting, gilding and burnishing.

Specification

• Style: classic, gallery-style frame for paintings
• Finish: hand-painted black, satin sheen; lip gilded in 22-karat moon gold over red bole
• Moulding width: 79 mm
• Moulding depth: 67 mm
• Rabbet: 7 mm wide, with 2–3 mm technical clearance
• Material: low-tannin solid wood, stable and suitable for conservation framing
• Corner joinery: wooden splines, fitted before gessoing and finishing
• Glass: optional (four classes, made to order)
• Backing: optional (3 mm Dibond panel, made to order)
• Matting: optional (acid-free foam board)
• Artwork mounting: spring clips
• Hanging: picture wire, vertical or horizontal
• Floater (rabbet-free) version: available
• Use: oil and acrylic on canvas, prints, photographs, works on paper
• Lead time: 20–30 working days

The dimensions given are for the complete frame including the moulding; the rabbet opening is correspondingly smaller. Each frame is made to the size of your work, so please give the exact dimensions of the painting, to 0.1 cm.

Which paintings and interiors it suits

Black with a narrow gold edge is the most classic pairing in framing oil paintings, proven in galleries and collections; if you are weighing up proportion and colour, it helps to look at the types of picture frames for canvas paintings. The deep profile and dark colour bring order to a composition, so the frame works well with richly coloured, high-contrast painting: portraits, landscapes, still lifes and figurative scenes. The gilded lip introduces a warm reflection right at the canvas and gently lifts the work without dominating it. In a room it belongs wherever quiet elegance matters: a classic living room, a study, a gallery, and equally a modern interior where a black-and-gold frame is a strong but restrained accent; in my range it sits among the black picture frames. With glass and a mat, it frames prints, watercolours and photographs just as well.

How it is made

I mill the moulding from solid wood and join the corners with wooden splines before any gesso is applied, which keeps the joints clean and stable for years. The surface is built up with layers of gesso to smooth the wood, then hand-painted black in thin coats; the brush marks left behind give it a soft, velvety depth that industrial spraying cannot. The narrow sight-edge lip is water-gilded over red bole, laying leaves of 22-karat moon gold side by side with a slight overlap; the fine joins visible across the burnished surface are a mark of genuine water gilding, not a flaw. Moon gold reads cooler, lighter and faintly silvery, distinctly paler than classic yellow gold, while the red bole showing through in places warms it from beneath. Finally I seal the work with shellac and wax with pigments, which deepens the black and gives it a satin sheen. I also make the same profile gilded in 23-karat yellow gold, with a warmer, more classic glow.

How it differs from a mass-produced frame

A factory frame is a ready profile in veneered moulding with a foil edge that imitates gold, cut to length. Here every stage is done by hand: selecting the wood, splined joints, gessoing, building up the paint in layers and gilding with real gold leaf over red bole. The edge is not foil or gold-coloured paint but precious metal laid leaf by leaf. The result is a frame with the depth, weight and character of a single piece rather than a repeatable product.

Function

The painting is held in the frame with spring clips, which keep the work secure while still allowing it to be removed if needed; brass mending plates are available on request. Picture wire strung between the fittings lets you hang the frame either vertically or horizontally, and a single D-ring can be fitted on request. The 67 mm depth easily houses canvases on a stretcher, including deeper bars. The frame can also be made as a floater, without a rabbet, as a box-style frame.

Museum and anti-reflective glass (optional)

For prints, watercolours or photographs I can fit glass: from neutral, low-iron Opti White to museum glass and acrylic with UV protection and reflection control. See „Complete framing" below.

Mounting (optional)

Works on paper can also be set in an acid-free mat, which lifts the glazing off the work and tidies the composition.

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.

Made to measure

I make each frame to the size of your painting. Measure the width and height of the work and enter the dimensions in the calculator to 0.1 cm (e.g. 35.0 × 30.2 cm); I build the frame with about 2–3 mm technical clearance so the painting fits comfortably. The price is calculated from the frame's perimeter and a base rate: with a moulding this wide, each 45-degree mitred corner uses a good deal of material, so the cost rises with size. The calculator covers formats up to 120 × 80 cm; larger works I make to individual order. I can also change the type of gold (23K yellow, 12K or 6K white, palladium, silver) and the colour of the bole under the gilding, which shifts the final tone of the edge. For unusual sizes, full archival framing or a quote, please get in touch.