Conservation?

[Bandsaw]

An expensive limited edition print by a big name artist was popular in this area about 30 years ago. We framed many of them.

One customer chose mats and frame and we framed it with reasonable conservation framing for those times. There were 2 Alphamats, hinged with methel cellulose on 8 ply rag, and regular clear glass.

Another customer brought in this print plus 9 more by the same artist. He wanted them drymounted, laminated, and put in a nice wood frame. After a conversation it was clear that he had good knowledge about art and conservation framing. He had no interest in the life of these prints - they would just be used as decoration to suit his needs and discarded later. They would be hung in his hunting cabin. He wasn't concerned about cost. He was completely clear as to his framing choices. We completed the order as requested. As a business person it was a good job but as a framer it grates on you and you remember.

Interestingly after almost 30 years, these 2 framed items came back to our store recently. Neither is still with the original customer and neither customer realizes that we framed them all those years ago although our sticker is still on the matted frame. Both wanted new frames.

The mounted, laminated print looks like new. It's clean and the colors are bright. It just needs a new frame.

The other print is a dirty mess. The dust cover is torn, there are bugs inside, and there's dirt and dust on the print. One hinge has let go and the prints is buckled. Side by side fading isn't obvious but this print has lost it's sparkle when compared to the laminated print.

I happen to like this print and if I had them I would design a new framing package and frame the laminated print, hang it on my wall, and enjoy it for years.

Conservation framing?

 

[Shayla]

Definitely food for thought. I suppose that a true
comparison would be if they had been in the same
place under similar conditions, but even then it
might have the same result.

I'm wondering if the print had been hinged differently
and backed differently, whether the damage you
mentioned could have been avoided. But even then,
whatever jarred it loose from it's hinge might still
have done so.

 

[FramerDave]

It's probably not fair to consider throwing out all the principles of preservation framing based on this one example.

The dirty conditions inside the frame and on the print are consistent with the torn dust cover. It sounds like it was mishandled at some point during its life, and that's something that's pretty much out of our control once it walks out the door, no matter our methods and materials.

Was the hinge torn? If so it probably gave way when the frame was handled roughly and did exactly what it was supposed to do. Otherwise it could have easily been the print that would be damaged. If the hinge just let go of the print, that could be a a result of a hinge not being properly applied, not a fault of preservation framing.

Sure, the laminated print looked good, but it was permanently mounted to a board, laminated and most likely trimmed. perfectly fine for a purely decorative print but hardly a good way to preserve a print with some value, or any print for that matter.

 

[Shayla]

I wouldn't consider 'throwing out all the principles of
conservation framing' for such a reason. But I still think
it's food for thought.

 

[Jim Miller]

The mounted, laminated print looks like new. It's clean and the colors are bright....

The other print is a dirty mess. The dust cover is torn, there are bugs inside, and there's dirt and dust on the print. One hinge has let go and the prints is buckled. Side by side fading isn't obvious but this print has lost it's sparkle when compared to the laminated print.

Are you are sure that conservation framing caused the torn dustcover, dirt, insects, fading, hinge failure, and buckling? That would be extremely unusual, to say the least. More likely, that framed print was handled and displayed improperly.

 

[Paul N]

The same could happen to any 2 exactly framed pieces, whether conservation or not. Just hang one in a wet, humid basement or garage where kids and insects play and keep the other in a drawer.

That most likely describes what happened to the 2 pieces you mentioned.

I see the good results of conservation framing almost daily when customers bring a piece or 2 that were moved around the country x times - with nothing worse that happened to them than a loose hinge, a scuffed frame or broken glass.