Framing

Everything arrives unframed — originals, prints and posters alike. Add one of ours if you would like: cut to the work, glazed with acrylic, never glass.

Why nothing arrives framed

A framed picture is often two or three times the weight of the work alone, which makes the parcel dearer and harder to handle. And glass breaks — couriers will not compensate for it, and broken glass sliding about inside a parcel is what ruins pictures. So the seller keeps their frame and the work travels flat, or rolled if it is a print or a poster.

Made to measure, so priced by size

Frames are not off the shelf — each is cut to your piece, so the price depends on how big it finishes rather than which style you pick. You see the exact figure on the listing's own page before you commit, and it is entirely optional.

A small work in plain black starts at £28; a large one in gold with a wide mount can reach £150.

Four mouldings

• Cottage white and classic black — £0.14 per cm
• Natural oak — £0.18 per cm
• Soft gold — £0.24 per cm

A slim 3 cm profile, glazed with acrylic rather than glass. That is not a cost saving: acrylic is lighter, it does not shatter, and broken glass is the single commonest reason a picture arrives damaged.

Mounts

Either no mount or a 4 cm mount, in ivory, light grey, black or cream. A mount adds to the size on every side — a 10 × 10 cm picture with a 4 cm mount makes an 18 × 18 cm frame.

One width rather than a range, deliberately. A mount is added twice on each dimension and the moulding twice again, so wider options finish larger than a courier will carry on most pieces. Four centimetres is the width that works on everything.

What it looks like on the wall

Two inches deep, acrylic glazed, and cut so the mount sits square to the picture. Nothing fussy — the frame is meant to disappear and leave you looking at the painting.

A seascape in our white moulding with an ivory mount.

Very large pieces still cannot be framed

A frame adds the mount twice and the moulding twice, so it finishes 14 cm larger than the work inside it. Since our postal limit is 95 × 60 cm, anything above roughly 81 × 46 cm finishes larger than a courier will carry.

Where that happens the listing simply does not offer framing. You will never be shown a frame you cannot actually have.

A framed print or poster travels flat

Prints and posters are normally sent rolled in a tube, which is cheaper. If you order framing they go flat instead, because a frame cannot be rolled — so the delivery charge changes with it. The total on the listing updates as you choose.

It also means somebody sees it in person

Framing is the one point where a person physically handles the work — our framer has it flat on the bench. If anything looks wrong it stops there and you are told before the frame is made.