Bespoke Picture Mounts
There are many choices you can make with bespoke picture mounts. The technique of mounting will be driven by what you are having framed and how you would like it to look in the frame. You may not even wish to have a mount visible if you would like your artwork “close framed” (where the picture or object comes right up to the inside edge of the frame).
The type of mount board will depend on the level of framing you have chosen and how you would like your artwork or item displayed. Mount boards come in a wide range of colours and finishes and start at the standard “white core” boards, moving up to the specialist mounts for the higher levels of framing - Conservation or Cotton Museum (Rag Mat) mount board.
At Pure Framing, your artwork or item will be mounted to the Fine Art Trade Guild’s “Level 3” as a minimum. This means that wherever possible (unless you specify otherwise) your mounting will be done reversibly (i.e. your artwork can be safely removed in the future should this be required). If you are having a window mount, a hinged back mount will also be included in the mount package to which the artwork is attached. In the “trade” this is known as an “overthrow mount".
Mount design options
There are many ways that an artwork or the item to be framed can be mounted. Some examples of bespoke picture mounts include:
Single Window Mount
Double Window Mount
Multiple Aperture Window Mount
Float Mount
Shadow Float Mount
Sink Mount
Mount Board Choices
It is important that the correct type of mount board is used within a framing package to offer the level of protection that has been chosen for the item being framed. The cheapest types of mount board can actually damage a picture. The damage is caused by lignin in the wood pulp used to make the cheaper boards raising the acidity in the paper as it deteriorates. This acidification can stain or even damage your artwork over time. Have you ever noticed that on many older framed pictures the edge of the mount surrounding the framing subject is brown – this is what is happening! Rest assured that at Pure Framing I only offer good quality mount, with a high degree of stability.
Signs that there are problems inside a picture frame - Foxing and StainingThere are 4 main types of mount board in terms of composition:
Whitecore Mount Board
This is a three layered mount board. It is technically a standard board according to Fine Art Trade Guild standards. However, because the core of the board is chemically purified wood pulp that is buffered with calcium carbonate to keep it from discolouration and the backing papers are usually to conservation standard (see the next bullet point) it offers more stability and longevity. The facing paper on these boards is standard wood-pulp paper but this does not come into contact with the artwork in a window mount. I offer Whitecore board from the Larson Juhl range at Pure Framing because of the colour range available. It is not however appropriate to use this board for Level 2 or Level 1 framing.
Conservation Mount Board
Either layered or solid board. Conservation board is made from chemically purified wood pulp to remove most of the lignin (the acid forming substance from the wood). It is also buffered with calcium carbonate to slow down acidification.
Cotton Museum Mount Board (Rag Mat)
Made from virgin cotton fibre which is naturally pH neutral. Cotton Museum board comes in two types – buffered (with calcium carbonate to maintain slight alkalinity) and un-bufferend. The un-buffered board is specifically for use with older photographs where silver was used in the processing, because this is adversely affected by alkalinity.
The fourth type of mount board is not offered at Pure Framing:
Standard Mount Board - This is the cheapest type. It is made from wood pulp, which has often been treated to some degree, but offers little or no protection, and is only suitable for short term or low value framing.