Large Box Frames Frame Your Biggest Artwork
Large box frames protect your artwork and give serious gravitas to your space.
Description
What Are Large Box Frames?
Large Box Frames are sturdy, deep frames that can be hand-made to any dimensions you require. Slightly deeper than the average box frame, they are ideal for the display of 3-dimensional art, and are also able to add depth and interest to flat pieces.
We are able to make large box frames to any depth, meaning that even the most unusual artworks or other special objects can be accommodated. Over the years we have made frames like these to display football shirts, a series of paper bags, a set of beer pump icons, dried flowers, school ties, 1,000 spent revolver rounds, resin cast baby feet, antique books and priceless artworks.
It’s also possible to achieve unique visual effects by using deep box frames. By choosing a frame that is over-deep for the artwork, it is possible to give great depth even to 2-dimensional art, and bold finishes can bring out particular colours or features, greatly enhancing the work.
These frames are particularly popular amongst artists, galleries, and interior designers. They offer a robust, secure way of storing and displaying large, fragile, 3-dimensional pieces. In addition, large frames can create a sense of consistency across otherwise disparate collections of artworks, an ability that is especially prized by galleries and interior designers.
All of our box frames are custom-made to your exact requirements, meaning that whatever the dimensions of the piece you would like to frame, or whatever visual effect you are seeking, your chosen frame will always fit your requirements precisely. Of course, we are always available to offer advice on the perfect frame for your needs.
Get your project started
Let's get your art framed
Get a bespoke design brief for your project. Each frame is uniquely designed and manufactured in house by our expert framers.
Craftsmanship
Completely Bespoke
We know quality frames and display solutions are made to measure. varying levels of protection available depending on where it's going to be located.
Woodwork
Often to create the simplest look with wooden picture frames, extra work is needed. From specialist coatings such as gesso, to one of a kind paintwork carried out in our spray booth. There's a reason why our frames are in museums and galleries across the globe.
“I started using Harten Frameworks six years ago. These guys are the best framers in the UK, they focus on my needs and always deliver. ”
Lincoln TownleyArtist
Finishes
Finishes & Materials
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Gesso
A traditional method of preparing a frame surface for paint, gilding or custom finishes. Can be applied to wood, metal and even paper mounts. The craftsmanship and secret recipes involved create a stunning finish that speaks for itself. Taken further, the gesso can be cracked and crazed, with stains and leaf applied to the cracks to accentuate, then waxed to seal. The finished result has a delicate ceramic-like touch, or feels leathery when waxed.
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Sprayed
Spraying is our most popular finish, with benefits including invisible frame corner joins on metal profiles, a smooth high quality effect and a choice of colours and glosses. It gives contemporary museum quality to any artwork.
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Burn Back
Gives modern rustic aesthetic with deep texture and ageing effects. The process involves carefully burning the wood. Ash or obeche wood has the best grain effect for this technique.
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Corten
A beautiful natural process of ageing steel, corten gives an organic-like ebb and flow of oranges and caramel. This unique finish is created though a careful chemical reaction on wood and metal. The result is a natural rust which is then sealed with clear lacquer to protect it.
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Gilding
After laying a gesso base, gilding can be applied using leaves of many metals, including gold, silver, bronze, copper & aluminium. This gives a luxury finish with a huge range of custom styles including patination, scuffing, rub through and burnishing. There are water-gilding and oil-gilding processes available depending on what is needed.
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Hand Painted
Your profile can be expertly painted in any colour required to match your artwork or environment. This cost-effective finish can be further enhanced with techniques such as stippling, veiling, patination and distressing.
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Staining
A versatile option that can be used to enhance grain, add colouring and even out natural surfaces. This is best used on natural woods.
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Off-The-Shelf Wood
A wide choice of pre-finished profiles are available. This is a more budget friendly option than hand-finished frames.
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Hand Finished Woods
Our team handcraft our wooden frames in house from a range of species including beech, oak, walnut, rock maple, ash, cherry and pine guaranteeing a high quality finish every time.
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Hand Finished Metals
We’ve developed our metalwork extensively recently, with our team now welding both custom aluminium and brass frames to suit a number of different shapes and styles.
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Off-The-Shelf Aluminium
A simple, modern and economical option for many types of frame. The range of styles and shapes has something for everyone, including pleasing wood veneers and timeless colours.
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Acrylic Options
Acrylic is naturally 70% UV resistant, 50% lighter than glass and incredibly tough to break, making it an ideal replacement to glass if preferred. Higher grade acrylic options include full UV resistance, anti-static or anti-reflective coatings.
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Glass Options
We offer a UV resistant glass as standard on our frames, with higher grade options to choose from including ‘Gallery Glass’ which has an anti-reflective property to make your artwork sing or glazing with anti-scratch coatings.
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Glass Spacers
Also called 'Fillets', these separate the mount and artwork from the glazing in a box frame. As they're visible, colours and styles can be used to compliment and contrast your artwork.
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Splines
Up to 5 splines can be used on your frame, for 2 purposes. Either to make a stronger frame for large works (where it's often painted over), or for the style and character it adds to your frame. In the latter case, contrasting woods can be used to enhance the effect.
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Give Your Artwork Serious Impact
The timeless shape and clean visuals give your artwork added gravitas that visitors will comment on.
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Extra Large?
We specialise in oversized, meaning your box frame can be customised to any length. Frames this large can act as a centerpiece and really pull your space together.
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Protect Your Artwork
Conservation level mounting techniques are used to house your artwork safely into the frame and a variety of glazing materials with various benefits, such as UV protection and anti-reflective properties, are used to protect the artwork from environmental damage.
Get your project started
Let's get your art framed
Get a bespoke design brief for your project. Each frame is uniquely designed and manufactured in house by our expert framers.
Examples
Examples Of Large Box Framing
Browse images from past projects, including many large box frame ideas to give inspiration for your next project.
The framing of my piece has really made a statement in our new home, for a price that was unrivalled by any local competitors.
Suitable For
What artworks can go in a large box frame?
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| Acrylic | Metal & Wood Frames | |||||
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| Artwork | Box | Panel | Box | Simple | Stretcher | Tray |
| 3D Object | ||||||
| Board | ||||||
| Canvas | ||||||
| Digital File | ||||||
| Mirror | ||||||
| Paper | ||||||
| Textile | ||||||
Get your project started
Let's get your art framed
Get a bespoke design brief for your project. Each frame is uniquely designed and manufactured in house by our expert framers.
Construction
How Are Large Box Frames Built?
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Splines
All of our frames are joined with splines, the way that frames used to be made. This is a technique that seems, sadly, to be dying out, with even a lot of premium frames made today being merely glued together. By cutting a groove into each component of the frame, and joining them together with custom-made tongues, we are able to achieve much greater strength and durability than mass produced frames.
In addition, using splines to join a frame simply makes it look much better. With large box frames, where the frame itself makes a big visual impact, this is especially important.
Bespoke Profiles
The fact that we make every box frame to your custom specifications means it will be exactly the size you ask for. Many framing companies, and even some of those who offer “bespoke” framing, cheat a little in this regard, mass producing box frames and then choosing one which roughly fits your requirements. We do not do this.
This is particularly important with wide box frames, because often they are used to frame 3-dimensional works of unusual dimensions. Even a 5mm difference in the size of the frame can make all the difference to the security and look of these pieces, and therefore it is important to have the frame in precisely the correct dimensions.
It is also important if you are seeking a particular visual effect from your frame. Balancing the size and depth of a frame against an artwork is an art in itself, and after 50 years experience of framing we modestly believe we have some expertise in this matter!
Construction of Oversized Box Frames
When it comes to the particular specifications of your box frame, you have a huge scope for customisation. We are always available to advise on the perfect frame for your artwork and needs, of course, but before choosing a frame it is worthwhile considering a few key elements.
Profile
First and foremost, think about the depth of the frame. For 3-dimensional work, this can seem simple – merely measure the artwork, and order a frame that will fit around it! However, in reality the choice of frame profile is much more complicated than this.
Choosing the correct depth of frame is an art in itself. When framing large 2-dimensional artworks, you can generally get away with a frame not much bigger than the piece itself. However, with large 3-dimensional pieces that require deep frames, you need to ensure that the frame is not “crowding” the art, making it look like it is imprisoned rather than framed.
On the other hand, many smaller pieces of artwork can actually benefit from oversized box frames. Smaller pieces can sometimes seem a but lost when mounted on otherwise busy walls, especially in a domestic context. Using a wide or tall box frame to give them their own space can not only draw attention to them, but also allow the viewer to appreciate them on their own merits without being distracted.
It is also possible to use box frames to bring together multiple objects into one frame. When doing this, it is important to arrange the objects for best effect, and again this is something that we are able to advise on.
We are able to produce large box frames to any depth, and can advise on the perfect finish and size for your needs.
Large Welded Aluminium Box Frames
Often it’s visually desirable to have a deep profile with a thin front face. This gives the artwork the space it needs, and lets the frame get out the way when admiring the work.
With very large frames made from wood, you require quite a large face to safely hold the glass in place. The solution here is to use a large welded aluminium frame.
Glazing
Finally, carefully consider the glazing you want to use on your frame. One of the most important features of any frame is its ability to protect the artwork inside, and your choice of glazing is a critical aspect of this.
We offer two types of glazing – glass or acrylic. Glass is generally preferred for premium frames, especially for artworks, because it is more resistant to scratches and is generally more hard-wearing. However, bear in mind that if your frame is particularly large, glazing it in glass will add a lot of weight. This is fine if you are going to mount your framed artwork and leave it alone, but if you need to transport framed works regularly it can make sense to go for lighter acrylic glazing.
If the artwork being framed is on paper or textiles, UV protection is a must. Strong sunlight can quickly damage these materials, destroying the subtleties of an artwork within weeks. We offer a range of anti-UV coatings that provide differing levels of protection, from a standard 50% up to museum-grade 99.9% protection for the most fragile or valuable items.
If you are mounting work in an area with strong ambient light, it can also be worth investing in Reflection Control coatings. These can be applied to either glass or acrylic glazings, and significantly reduce reflections from nearby lights or windows. Whilst this technology has long been used in gallery and museum contexts, where it reduces glare from strong spotlights, it has recently grown in popularity even for frames mounted in a domestic context.
Benefits of Large Box Frames
There are many specific benefits of our large box frames, from the level of customisation available to the visual impact achievable by using large frames.
Customisation
Because every one of our frames is hand-made to your requirements, it is possible to customise almost any aspect of the the frame. This is true for all of our frames, but especially important with large box framing because here the frame itself tends to have a large visual impact.
The first aspect to consider is the material the frame itself is made of. Most of our large or deep box frames are made of Tulipwood, because this offers a good balance of strength, price, and the ability to take on a wide range of finishes.
Second, the space around the artwork can be customised. Most customers choose a white, conservation paper-wrapped glass-spacer, which gives a clean and modern look. However, it is also possible to change the colour or finish of the spacer, and this can achieve quite striking effects – making the artwork blend in with the frame, highlighting particular colours or aspects, or merely creating a strong visual contrast.
Your options, however, do not stop there – it is possible to customise every aspect of your frame, from the space around your artwork to the colour of the mount. We are, of course, able to advise you on the best combination of materials and finishes for the effect you are seeking.
Choice of Glazing
We offer oversized box frames with with a choice of either glass or acrylic glazing. Which you choose will depend on your budget, and on the particular effect you are seeking to achieve.
Ultraviolet protection is a very popular addition for many artists and galleries. Paper and textile artworks are particularly susceptible to damage from UV rays, which can quickly fade colours and erase details. If the artwork is antique, or particularly valuable, it is therefore worth investing in a frame that will offer archive-grade protection. Protective ultraviolet coatings can be applied to either glass or acrylic glazings, and we offer a range of levels of protection, from around 50% right up to museum-grade 99.9%.
Reflection Control is another simple upgrade that can really enhance art works. By almost completely cutting out reflections from the glazing, an almost magical effect is achieved – the first time you see it, it is difficult to believe that the art is actually behind glass. This coating is especially useful if mounting artworks in a gallery environment where there is strong downlighting, or if you are displaying artworks opposite a large, sunny window.
Security
Bigger box frames are, by definition, a bit more sturdy than smaller frames. This is especially important for fragile sculptural works, where you want to be able to rely on the frame to protect the work inside. In addition, many large galleries use box frames because they are better suited to being regularly moved and transported than smaller frames.
In a domestic context, the added security of a huge box frame is also advantageous, because in a busy household, and especially one where children are running around, accidents can happen. Having a thick, sturdy frame around your prized art can therefore give great peace of mind.
We always frame work with conservation in mind, and design our mounts so that the item is safely and reversibly held in place. Though the technique used to mount items varies depending on their size, shape, and weight, we never use glue, nails, staples, or anything else that can damage the artwork.
For the largest box frames, or for those used to mount particularly heavy artworks, we can use a sub-frame to ensure that the frame itself stays fully rigid and secure. This is designed to give even greater protection to the artwork, but can also double as an effective hanging method. By using a split batten on your wall, it is possible to invisibly mount large, heavy box frames. If you are interested in this hanging method, just let us know, and we can build your frame to accommodate this.
Visual Impact
This is where box frames really come into their own. It goes without saying that, by choosing a frame that is quite deep, you can use the colour and finish of the frame itself to create visual impact.
This can be done in a variety of ways. By using a set of similar frames within one space, it is possible to create a sense of continuity between artworks that might otherwise be quite variable. A set of frames in a room can have quite an impact in itself, even before you look at the artworks contained in them.
Alternatively, it is possible to use large frames to draw attention to a particular artwork, whether this be a 3-dimensional piece or not. A box frame will add emphasis to a piece even from across the room, and by giving the artwork space to “breathe” within its frame you can allow the viewer to focus solely on it.
Beyond this, there are a range of techniques for using frames to enhance the particular qualities of individual artworks. Even flat, paper works can be given new life by mounting them in a large, striking frame. By choosing particular finishes, for example, it is possible to echo particular colours in paintings, or conversely to create a strong visual contrast which makes the artwork stand out.
“The only museum quality framers we’ve found outside London. ”
Chris BrooksGallery Owner
Get your project started
Let's get your art framed
Get a bespoke design brief for your project. Each frame is uniquely designed and manufactured in house by our expert framers.