Archival Conservation Framing

Known as conservation, archival or museum grade framing - these terms refer to the use of framing practices and materials designed to ensure the safety and longevity of a framed work. A harmony between aesthetic and conservation concerns forms the basis of a successful conservation frame. Conservation framing need not be expensive, many of the considerations below are standard on all our framing work with some optional upgrades.

Reversibility

A key requirement of conservation framing is that all necessary attachments to artworks must be be fully reversible and the framing must not permanently alter the state of a work. For works on paper this is most often achieved through the careful use use of fully reversible hinges of Japanese paper applied with freshly prepared wheat starch adhesive. 

museum grade materials

All boards and materials within in the framing package must of an archival grade and suitable for the particular work. This includes 100% cotton buffered and unbuffered museum grade mount boards ( Rising Museum Board ) as well as inert polypropylene backing boards.

frame structure

The frame provides a housing for the work protecting it from elements both within the frame and externally. Effective conservation framing takes into account spacing, depth and support with a frame package. A frame must be supportive and structurally sound, considerations must be made to the choice of frame along with external bracing, subframes and hanging systems.

glazing

An important component of a conservation grade frame is the use of Glass or Acrylic with strong UV filtering properties. UV light exposure is not only responsible for the fading of pigment and dyes but also accelerates the breakdown of paper fibres.