Reverse Profile Picture Frame, Painted and Patinated by Hand

This reverse profile picture frame is painted and patinated by hand and made to measure for oil and acrylic paintings on canvas. I make each frame for one painting, to the dimensions of its canvas, and carry out every stage myself, from the joinery to the final coat of wax. The finish is kept quiet: muted colour laid straight onto the wood, so that the painting holds the attention and the shape of the moulding does the framing. What a reverse section does to a painting I explain in my note on reverse frames and how they change the perception of a painting.

The moulding profile

The moulding is 75 mm wide and 30 mm thick. At the inner edge it opens with a raised flat, the highest point of the whole section. A step drops from the flat into a broad convex curve that fills most of the face and falls away outwards, and a second step finishes the profile at the outer edge. On a conventional moulding the face rises towards the outer edge; here the order is inverted, and that is what carries the edge of the painting forward.

Specification

• style: reverse profile, painted and patinated by hand
• finish: painted by hand directly onto the wood, patinated along the edges and steps, sealed with shellac and wax to a satin sheen
• colours: 19, chosen in the order menu
• moulding width: 75 mm
• moulding thickness (face to back): 30 mm
• rebate: 7 mm wide, 10 or 20 mm deep, chosen in the order menu
• material: low-tannin wood of the kind used in museum framing and art conservation
• corners: mitred and reinforced with wooden splines
• glazing, backing and mount: optional, quoted individually
• fixings and hanging: sprung clips as standard, brass plates on request; picture wire, single D-ring on request; vertical or horizontal
• use: oil and acrylic paintings on canvas; prints, drawings and photographs with glazing

You order the frame to the size of the painting, giving the dimensions of the canvas. I build in 2–3 mm of technical clearance, and the moulding overlaps the edge of the artwork by roughly 4–5 mm.

Paintings and interiors it suits

The frame is made for oil and acrylic paintings on stretched canvas. The raised flat meets the paint surface as a clean line, and the curve falling away behind it keeps the eye within the picture. With glazing and spacers, the same moulding also takes prints, drawings, photographs and fine art reproductions.

The colours are deliberately muted. They settle into a room rather than compete with the painting, so the frame sits as easily against a pale gallery wall as in a panelled or period interior. The rest of my range is gathered among my custom picture frames.

How the frame is painted and patinated

I cut the moulding to the size of your painting and join the corners first, mitred and reinforced with wooden splines, before any colour goes on, so the joint is structural and the frame keeps its shape at large formats. The wood is low in tannins, of the kind used in museum framing and art conservation, and stays dimensionally stable.

I paint the frame by hand, laying the colour directly onto the wood and building it up in layers, so the grain of the wood and the marks of the brush remain visible at close range and disappear at viewing distance. I then patinate the surface by hand, mainly along the edges and into the steps of the profile, where the darker tone sharpens the geometry of the reverse section. A coat of shellac and wax seals the colour, deepens it and leaves a satin sheen. This is hand work, so no two frames come out exactly alike.

The 19 colours

The range runs from Champagne White through the blues (Pale Blue, Light Navy, Marine Navy, Navy Blue and Blue Black), the greens (Light Bottle Green, Deep Green and Dark Green), the greys (Earthy Grey, Brownish Grey, Warm Grey Brown, Dark Grey and Dark Deep Grey) and the browns (Light Coffee Brown, Chocolate Brown and Dark Brown) to Aubergine and Black. Every shade deepens along the steps of the profile, where the patina sits, and all nineteen are chosen in the order menu.

How it differs from a mass-produced frame

A ready-made moulding of this width is usually MDF wrapped in a printed wood-effect foil, cut to stock sizes and stapled or pinned at the corners. Here the moulding is wood, the corners are splined before any colour goes on, and the colour is painted and patinated by hand rather than sprayed, then sealed with shellac and wax. The frame is cut to the measurements of your painting, with a rebate depth chosen for its stretcher, and the small differences between one frame and the next are the trace of handwork, not a fault.

Functionality

As standard the frame is supplied without glazing, for a painting on a stretcher. The rebate is 7 mm wide, and its depth is chosen in the order menu under picture thickness: 10 mm for boards and thin panels, 20 mm for a standard stretcher, which then sits fully inside the frame, level with the back. A ¾-inch stretcher fits the 20 mm option; if yours is deeper, send me its depth before you order.

I also make the same moulding without a rebate, as a floating frame, in which a painting on a stretcher appears to hover in a narrow gap with the edges of the canvas in view. I explain the difference between the two constructions in my guide to the floating picture frame for canvas art.

Frequently asked questions

What size of painting suits this frame?

Medium and large canvases. At 75 mm (about 3 inches) the moulding is scaled for larger works, and below roughly 30 × 40 cm (about 12 × 16 inches) I would usually suggest a narrower frame. The online calculator handles paintings up to 180 cm around the perimeter (about 71 inches); for anything larger, send me the dimensions and I will price the frame individually.

How do I choose one of the 19 colours?

Start from the painting rather than the wall. The deeper shades, from Dark Brown and Aubergine to Blue Black and Black, hold a painting firmly and suit dark, saturated palettes; the lighter ones, such as Champagne White, Pale Blue or Light Coffee Brown, keep a light picture open. My picture frame colour and material guide explains how frame colour and painting work together, and if you are unsure, send me a photograph of the painting and I will suggest two or three colours.

Complete framing – additional options

Every frame I make can be completed with full archival and museum-quality framing: conservation-grade low-reflection UV glazing (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

Sprung clips are fitted as standard. They turn aside to let the work in and back to hold it, and they cope with anything from a thin board to a stretched canvas. Brass plates with screws are available on request and are supplied loose, for permanent fixing once the work is in place. Hanging orientation, vertical or horizontal, is chosen from the order menu. Picture wire is fitted as standard, and a single D-ring hanger can be fitted instead if you ask for it.

Ordering made to measure

Measure the artwork to within a millimetre, enter both figures in the calculator and choose the colour, the picture thickness (which sets the rebate depth) and the hanging orientation in the product options.

The base price shown is the price per running metre of moulding. The perimeter of the artwork is not the whole length a frame consumes: mitres cut at 45 degrees take extra length at every corner, and the wider the moulding, the more they take. The calculator accounts for the full consumption of moulding including the corners.

For this moulding width the calculator handles artworks up to 180 cm around the perimeter; anything larger is made to individual order, so send me the dimensions and I will price it. Glazing, backing and mount are quoted separately. Every frame leaves the workshop in 20–30 working days.