Wide white picture frame, made to measure

This is the widest white frame I make. The moulding measures 100 mm across the face and carries no ornament at all, which is the whole point of it: large oils, acrylics on stretcher and large format photographs already hold the eye on their own, and a broad plain white field around the work gives them air instead of competing with them. I cut and finish each one to the measurements of a single painting, so the rabbet fits that stretcher and no other. The proportions and the reasoning behind a moulding this broad are set out in my note on wide wooden painting frames.

The profile

The section is rectangular and flat throughout. Reading from the artwork outwards, the rabbet is cut 7 mm wide and 45 mm deep into the inner edge, so it sits behind the sight line and shows only in three quarter view. Above it the face runs as one unbroken plane, 100 mm wide and level from the inner edge to the outer, closed at each side by a crisp square arris rather than a rounded or chamfered edge. The outer flank stands 50 mm from the face to the back plane and is painted in the same finish as the face, so the frame reads as a single block of white and throws a defined shadow onto the wall behind it.

Specification

• Style: contemporary, plain flat profile, no ornament
• Colour shown: warm chalky off white
• Finish: hand applied gesso ground, hand sanded between coats, polished with wax to a satin sheen
• Moulding width: 100 mm
• Moulding thickness from face to back: 50 mm
• Rabbet: 7 mm wide × 45 mm deep
• Material: solid low-tannin timber used in museum work and art conservation
• Corners: mitred at 45° and reinforced with wooden splines
• Artwork retention: spring clips fitted as standard, brass plates with screws on request
• Hanging: hanging cord as standard, portrait or landscape selected at order
• Glass, backing and matting: available on request for an additional fee
• Lead time: 20–30 working days

Enter the dimensions of the artwork itself, not the size of frame you would like. I add 2–3 mm of technical clearance and the rabbet overlaps the edge of the work by roughly 4–5 mm. The finished frame is larger than the artwork by the width of the moulding on each side.

Suitable artwork and interiors

A moulding this wide belongs to work whose colour and composition already stand on their own: large oils and acrylics on stretcher, large format photography, artists' prints and collector posters. The 45 mm rabbet swallows a deep gallery stretcher without packing, which is where narrower frames usually fail. For oil work in particular I set out how profile width, rabbet depth and finish should be matched to the painting in my guide to framing oil paintings.

In interiors it does its best work in minimalist, Scandinavian, japandi and loft schemes, where white acts as a neutral resonance for the wall. It also sits well in classical rooms, provided the walls stay white or warm grey.

How I make it

Each frame starts as seasoned timber cut to the measurements of the painting. I mitre the corners at 45° and reinforce them with wooden splines while the moulding is still raw, before any surface preparation begins, so the joint holds its geometry rather than relying on glue alone. Onto that I brush several coats of gesso, chalk bound with animal glue, hand sanding between each coat until the surface is silky and no grain shows through. The paint goes on by hand over the ground, and the last stage is a wax polish that gives the frame its soft satin sheen and seals the surface against soiling.

The whole run takes 20–30 working days. Gesso cannot be forced dry without risking cracks, so each stage needs its own drying time, and that is the honest reason a frame like this is made to order rather than kept on a shelf.

How it differs from mass production

Off-the-shelf wide frames are almost always veneered or spray painted MDF: a thick, mechanically applied coating that yellows or chips within a few years. This moulding is timber, gessoed and painted in the same way conservation and museum frames are prepared. Under raking light you can see the faint texture of hand applied gesso and the diffused sheen of wax, neither of which spray equipment reproduces.

The second difference shows at the corners. A factory frame gives itself away with micro steps at the mitre and traces of glue or filler along the join. Here the mitres are cut, splined and levelled before the ground goes on, so the gesso and paint run across the corner as one continuous surface.

Function

I supply this frame without glass, as a setting for a painting on stretcher where the moulding itself does the protective work. The 45 mm rabbet accepts practically any contemporary oil or acrylic stretcher, including deep gallery wraps. The same profile can also be made without a rabbet, as a floating frame, with the canvas suspended inside and a visible gap around its edge.

Colour, finish and format

The frame photographed is a warm chalky off white. The same profile is painted to order in any shade from a curated, richly pigmented paint range, from a cooler pure white through deep navy, bottle green, pastel pink and terracotta. The finish is either satin, wax polished as shown, or high gloss sealed with lacquer: satin reads warm and craft led, high gloss reads geometric, with bright reflections travelling across the broad face.

Narrower and broader versions of the same flat profile, and shallower or deeper sections for thinner or deeper stretchers, are made to individual order rather than selected from the menu, so tell me the thickness of your stretcher when you write. A closely related but more compact version, where the side of the moulding is proportionally more prominent, is the deep white picture frame in a 5 × 5 cm section. The rest of the range sits in the category of white picture frames in different proportions and finishes.

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 artwork is held in the rabbet by spring clips, fitted to the back of the frame in the workshop. They rotate aside, so one work can come out and another go in without tools. Brass plates with screws are available on request instead: they are supplied loose with the screws, you fit them yourself once the work is in, and the fixing is permanent. This is not a menu choice, so add a note to the order if you want the brass plates.

Hanging orientation, portrait or landscape, is selected from the order menu, and the frame is prepared for that orientation only. Hanging cord is fitted as standard. A single D-ring hanger is available on request.

Made to measure

The price shown is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of the picture is not the whole length a frame needs: the 45° mitres take additional length at each corner, and the wider the moulding, the more they take. The calculator works out the full consumption including corners, along with any add-ons you select.

Measure the artwork itself, width and height, to the nearest millimetre, and type those figures in. The calculator handles artworks up to 120 × 80 cm; anything larger is made to individual order, so send me the dimensions and I will price it.