Gold gilded picture frames

I make gold frames for paintings by hand, to measure, in my workshop. They are gilded with real gold leaf.It includes 23-karat yellow, 22-karat moon, and white 12K and 6K.We use the water gilding technique.This method has been used for centuries in museum-quality framing. Every frame is built from scratch: cutting the moulding, gessoing, polishing, laying the leaf and finishing — all done by hand. Sized to a specific painting, a gold leaf frame deepens colour and reflects light in a way no metallic paint ever will.

All frames in my workshop are made to order — I don't keep stock. Each one is designed and produced for a specific piece: a painting, a stretcher, a sheet of paper to be matted.

The gold palette — from primary tones to niche shades

I work with four primary types of gold leaf, the ones I use most often:

• 23-karat yellow gold leaf — the most intense, classic warmth. The gold of baroque and neoclassical frames, of oil paintings and icons.
• 22-karat moon gold leaf — lighter and cooler than 23K, with a subtly silvery tone. Suits prints, watercolours, photography and contemporary interiors.
• 12-karat white gold leaf — cold but with a soft depth. Works beautifully with black-and-white photography and graphic art.
• 6-karat white gold leaf — almost chrome, the coolest reflection in my palette. A modern, restrained finish for minimalist interiors.

That is only the starting point. Many more shades of gold leaf are available: lemon gold, pink gold, red gold, and greenish gold.
There is hardly any green visible in it.
The beautiful capelain gold is also available.
It has a champagne tone, very close to moon gold. I also work with palladium and pure silver leaf — white precious metals with an even cooler, more steel-like tone. If you have a specific shade in mind that you don't see on the product page, let me know — we'll choose it together.

Water gilding — the process, step by step

I gild using the water gilding technique. It is the only method that lets me burnish gold. I use an agate stone to create a deep, mirror-like sheen. No oil gilding, no metallic paint, and no foil approaches it. Beneath the leaf lies a multi-layered ground of gesso and bole — coloured clay that determines the final tone of the gold.

The leaf itself is barely substantial — exactly 80 × 80 mm, just a few thousandths of a millimetre thick, light as a spider's web. It can disintegrate in mid-air from a breath of wind. I take the leaf from the book and lay it on a gilder's cushion covered in suede. I cut it with a special gilder's knife into strips. The strip width sets the width of the gilded surface. I then transfer the leaf to the frame, sheet by sheet, with a wide flat brush — a gilder's tip — that carries a faint amount of grease. The grease lets me lift the leaf onto the brush. When the brush comes close to the moulding, the leaf jumps onto the bole. The bole has been wetted with gilding water, and the leaf settles onto it. It is a difficult process; it takes years of practice to do it well.

Once the gold is laid and dry, I burnish it with an agate stone. That is where the deep, mirror-like sheen comes from — physically, it is the stone micro-polishing the surface of the metal. Then I rub the surface back, lightly removing some of the top layer of gold, so it begins to blend with the bole beneath. If I rub it less, the bole barely shows and the gold shines fully. If I rub it more, the bole shows through and the metallic flash fades. But the underlying depth remains. The agate builds up that sheen. With this single gesture I shape the character of the frame, from brightly reflective to subdued, aged, with the bole showing through. It is one of the magical moments in the gilder’s craft. This craft has been with us for centuries, perhaps a thousand years or more.

Six bole colours — an almost limitless range of effects

In my workshop I use six bole colours beneath the gold: red, black, yellow, green, blue and grey. Red adds warmth to 23K gold and gives it an aged, ochre tone.Black highlights the cool look of white gold.Other colors allow unconventional effects on rubbed-back edges and patinas.

Multiplying the number of bole colours by the number of gold shades, the degree of rubbing back and the type of surface finish gives an almost limitless range of combinations a frame can take.

Most of these differences are only fully visible in person, with the naked eye. The sheen of burnished gold and the depth of the bole are hard to capture in a photo.A photo never shows the full range of what happens on a frame’s surface. That is why, every now and then, I make a frame "on spec" — a finished piece that hasn't been ordered by a specific client. Those occasions are rare, and I usually keep such frames in the workshop, to show them to visitors. Only there, in person, does it become clear what separates real gold laid on bole from cheaper imitations.

What my gold frames are designed for

A gold leaf frame made to measure works across very different uses:

• oil paintings — the natural home of 23K on red bole, particularly in portraiture, sacred art and landscape;
• watercolours and prints — usually paired with a mat, ideally with white or moon gold;
• fine art photography — narrow profiles in 22K moon or 12K white gold, with optional anti-reflective glass;
• diplomas, certificates and family documents — narrow 23K frames with glazing and a mat, in the archival framing variant;
• contemporary works on stretched canvas — as a floater frame, with no rabbet, leaving the edge of the canvas visible.

Configuration: dozens of profiles, over 100+ paint colours

What you see in the category is a cross-section of the most frequently chosen frames — but the actual range is far wider. I design every frame together with the client, drawing from the workshop's full palette:

• dozens of moulding profiles in a range of widths — from narrow finishing frames to wide cassetta and ornamental profiles;
• over 100 paint colours from a curated, richly pigmented range — from clean whites and blacks to muted historic tones;
• several shades of gold leaf (23K yellow, 22K moon, white 12K and 6K, capelain, lemon, pink, red, greenish), plus palladium and silver;
• six bole colours under the gold — red, black, yellow, green, blue, grey;
• surface finishes — traditional shellac and wax, protective lacquer, pigment patina, distressing, rubbed-back edges revealing the bole.

In practice, these dimensions can create countless combinations. The frames are truly designed from scratch, not picked from a catalog. The most interesting results come from a real exchange with the client. Choosing the profile, color, and gold becomes part of designing the frame and its story.

Sizing, materials and museum-grade options

Every gold frame in this category is made to measure — to the exact dimensions of a painting, stretched canvas or mat. The base price shown on each product page is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of a painting is not the full length of moulding needed.Moulding must be cut at 45° angles at the corners, which uses extra length.Wider moulding uses even more length. The configurator on each product page accounts for full moulding usage including corners, plus optional extras: glass, backing, hanging hardware.

The dimensions given on each product page describe the outer dimensions of the frame. The rabbet, where the painting actually sits, is correspondingly smaller — important when ordering against an existing stretched canvas.

I cut the mouldings from solid wood with low tannin levels. This wood is used in museum framing and conservation. It does not react with paint. It also helps prevent gilding from discoloring over time. Gilded surfaces are often sealed with shellac and wax. This adds depth to the finish. It also creates a soft, semi-matte glow that is typical of historic frames. On request, a frame can be sealed with protective lacquer.It can also be finished with a pigment patina.The patina looks aged and cream-toned.In some places, the bole shows through.

For museum-grade framing I also offer anti-reflective glass with UV filter and acid-free framing (mat board, backing and conservation tapes) — a complete archival environment, recommended for works on paper, baryta photography and collectible pieces.

A hand-gilded frame and a cheap imitation

Most "gold" frames on the market are painted with metallic paint or covered in foil that imitates gold. They look gold in a shop photograph, but a few years later they go matte, yellow, and lose their depth. A hand-laid sheet of real gold does not oxidize. It keeps its sheen for decades. If it later develops a patina, it does so evenly. This adds nobility to the artwork, not wear. The difference is the same kind as between an oil painting and a print.

Ordering a gold frame, made to measure

Choose a model from the listing below — on each product page you will enter the exact dimensions of the painting, choose the gold tone, the glass option, the backing and hanging hardware. For non-standard configurations (a different profile, a custom bole, an arched frame, a museum-grade build, a particular paint colour) please write to me and I will prepare an individual quote. You are also welcome to visit the workshop and see the frames in person. Production takes 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the complexity of the build and the current workshop schedule.