Custom Picture Frame “Casina 12” – Wide White Frame with 22K Gold Accents

Casina 12 is a setting in which workshop preparation of the moulding meets the discipline of architectural drawing. A wide white moulding 120 mm across, finished on the artwork side with a slender line of 22-karat gold leaf, orders the composition and gives the work the standing of an exhibition piece. The frame is hand-built to the exact dimensions of the artwork, in the workshop run personally by Karol Milewski, in the tradition of water gilding rooted in conservation practice.

The profile follows a classical division of architectural planes. The outer edge carries a sculpted cyma — a sequence of narrow fillets and a soft curve descending in stages from the highest point of the moulding. The cyma opens onto the dominant frieze — a broad, smooth field that gives the moulding its monumental, almost joinery-like cadence. An inner step drops to a narrow, rounded bead along the rabbet, wrapped in 22-karat moon gold leaf; the fine line of precious metal closes the composition around the artwork and introduces a cool, silver-gold reflection inside it.

Suited to which artworks and interiors

Casina 12 is conceived as a setting for works with a strong, self-contained presence. It performs as a frame for oil and acrylic painting on canvas, large-format painting, abstraction and figurative work with assertive colour. It also frames fine-art photography and collector prints — particularly in installations where the white moulding functions as a gallery field around the work. Frame selection for canvas painting is covered in detail in the guide on picture frames for canvas paintings.

In interior settings, Casina 12 sits comfortably in rooms with ordered, classical geometry — living rooms with smooth walls and a high ceiling, studies, dining rooms, formal entrance halls and gallery interiors. It belongs in classical, modern-classic, glamour and minimalist schemes — wherever a wide frieze and a focused gold accent read as architecture rather than decoration.

Specification

• Style: classical / architectural
• Finish: hand-painted satin white + inner bead gilded in 22-karat moon gold leaf
• Moulding width: 120 mm
• Moulding depth: 35 mm
• Rabbet: 7 mm wide, approx. 20 mm deep (sized for stretchered canvas)
• Material: solid timber low in tannins, used in museum practice and art conservation
• Corner construction: mitres reinforced with wooden splines (conservation joinery)
• Artwork retention: spring clips or brass plates with screws (selectable)
• Hanging: cord as standard; single D-ring on request
• Lead time: 20–30 working days
• Application: oil and acrylic on stretched canvas, fine-art photography, collector prints, works on paper

The dimensions given (120 × 35 mm) describe the moulding itself. The rabbet — the recess that holds the artwork — is 7 mm wide and approximately 20 mm deep. The frame is built to your exact artwork size: the rabbet is made 2–3 mm larger than the work, providing a standard technical clearance.

Making and craft

The moulding is prepared by hand from solid timber low in tannins — a material used in museum practice and art conservation for its dimensional stability and chemical neutrality. The surface is gessoed, sanded and hand-painted to a uniform satin white with quiet depth. Corners are joined with wooden splines — a conservation technique in which the 45° mitre is reinforced with a wooden tongue, ensuring the dimensional stability of the frame at larger formats.

The inner edge of the frame is covered with 22-karat moon gold leaf — a precious metal with a subtly silvery, cool tone, paler than classical 23-karat gold. Gilding is carried out in the water-gilding technique: a grey-clay bole (poliment) is laid over a gesso ground, its cool tone showing through the thin film of gold and tinting it from beneath. The silvery-grey undertone reinforces, in this variant, the pale, lunar character of the moon gold — in contrast to traditional red bole, which would lend a warmer, brassier register. Sheets measuring approximately 80 × 80 mm are cut on a gilder's cushion with a specialist knife — exacting hand-work performed for every length of the moulding. Once dry, the gilding is burnished with an agate stone, drawing out the deep, refined lustre that distinguishes water gilding from oil or composition gilding.

How it differs from mass production

Casina 12 is not assembled from off-the-shelf milled moulding. A 120 mm profile of this geometry is not held in wholesale catalogues — the moulding is prepared in the workshop, for the individual commission. Gilding is done in genuine gold leaf, not Dutch metal (a copper-zinc imitation that darkens over time through oxidation). Every stage — timber cutting, gessoing, painting, gilding and burnishing — is performed by hand, by the same person. This is a frame produced in a small number of pieces per variant each year, not by the tens of thousands.

Function — artwork retention and hanging

The frame is supplied without glass, as a setting for a canvas on a stretcher — the artwork sits directly in the rabbet.

Artwork retention in the rabbet (selectable from the product menu):

• Spring clips — factory-fitted in the workshop, allowing quick artwork changes: the clip rotates aside and releases the canvas without removing any screws.
• Brass plates with screws — supplied loose with screws included; you fit them yourself once the artwork is in place, securing the work permanently and rigidly.

The orientation of the frame (portrait or landscape) is selected from the product variant menu — the frame is built to the chosen orientation. Standard hanging is a cord stretched between fixings; 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, 4 mm — 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), 2.0 mm — 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 3 mm 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 order

Casina 12 is hand-built to the specific dimensions of your work. You enter the artwork's width and height to 0.1 cm precision; the frame is made 2–3 mm larger than the artwork — a standard technical clearance. The base price is the price per linear metre of moulding. Mitres cut at 45° consume additional length — more so the wider the moulding; the calculator accounts for full consumption including mitres and any selected options.

The online price calculator supports artwork sizes up to 120 × 80 cm. Larger formats are made to individual order — please contact me with the dimensions of your work, I will prepare a quote and confirm the lead time. Standard production time is 20–30 working days.

Casina 12 belongs to the collection of white picture frames from the Karol Milewski workshop — each piece handcrafted, made to measure, in genuine gold leaf or hand-painted finishes.