Are you sure you got what you paid for in framing?

Just last week I received a call from a local individual who was referred to me by another framer. This guy, who was effected by the downturn of the economy, called me to sell his presidential document collection.

He mentioned he bought the collection, over a period of time, from a historical autograph dealer. We discussed the collection in length and its components. The seller also mentioned that the items were framed museum quality by a framer that the dealer knew. The framer was allegedly an expert in archival framing.

When I went over to the collector's house, I examined the collection. I also noticed several of the items with some fading, both to the engrossment and to the signatures. In once case, the Andrew Jackson, a ships paper, was faded to almost being obliterated.

Although he bought these over the years, the prices, in some cases, were lower, not from market conditions, but from eventual deterioration over time, through improper framing.

The seller brought the items to my studio. Admittedly, some looked fine, while others definitely showed fading.

I removed some of the frames. To my dismay, a few of the nice pieces were double taped (!) to a backing board. In no case was UV filtering glass or acrylic used. The glass was all regular, over the counter glass!

The matting was substandard. It was your typical, frame shop, "acid free" (a frame shop lie) matting. (Why do they call it acid free, when the whole mat is covered with wood pulp acid?!?!?!..............a topic of another discussion).

With the exception of a couple of items, there was nothing earth shattering in here. But, I can tell you the prices would have been much better, in a few cases, if proper materials and techniques were used.

Remember, framing is one of those instances where you won't know for months or years, the quality of what you bought!