What to look for if you've just purchased framed artwork at auction
There is something uniquely thrilling about winning a piece at auction. Whether it is a signed watercolour you spotted in a preview catalogue, an oil painting that caught your eye from across the saleroom floor, or a print with real provenance — that moment when the hammer falls in your favour is hard to beat.
But once the excitement settles, a practical question emerges: is the framing actually any good?
Artwork sold at auction is often housed in whatever frame it has accumulated over its lifetime. That might be a beautiful period frame that is entirely appropriate and well-maintained. Or it might be decades-old framing using materials that — by today's conservation standards — are actively doing the artwork harm. In our experience, it is more often the latter.
Here is what to look for when your new acquisition arrives home, and how to know when it is time to bring it to a specialist.
Start from the front: what the glass tells you
The first thing to examine is the glazing. Hold the frame at a slight angle in natural light and look carefully at the glass.
Is it plain glass? Older frames — particularly those dating from before the 1990s — are almost universally fitted with standard float or picture glass. This offers no UV protection whatsoever. If the artwork has been hanging in a light-filled room at any point in its life, it may already have experienced some fading. Plain glass will continue to allow damaging ultraviolet light to reach the artwork every single day it is displayed.
Is there any visible haze, crazing or etching on the surface? This can occur with certain older types of anti-reflective glass or coated glass that has aged poorly. Scratched or degraded glass should be replaced — both for aesthetic reasons and to properly protect the artwork underneath.
Can you see the artwork clearly? Greenish or brownish tints to older glass can subtly distort the tones of a painting or print beneath. It is worth considering whether the glass is doing the artwork justice, quite apart from any conservation concern.
What you ideally want — particularly for anything of value or significance — is museum-grade UV-filtering conservation glass. This is the same standard used in galleries and public institutions. It will not fade, discolour or distort, and it provides a meaningful physical barrier against the wavelengths of light responsible for the vast majority of UV-related artwork damage.
Check the mount: acid is the enemy
If your auction purchase is a work on paper — a watercolour, a print, a drawing, a photograph — the condition of the mount is arguably more important than anything else. This is where the most insidious damage tends to occur, quietly and invisibly, over years.
Lift the frame and look at the edges of the mount board where it meets the artwork. Then turn the frame over and examine the reverse.
Brown or yellow staining around the edges of the artwork is a tell-tale sign of acid migration from the mount board. Standard mount boards contain lignin and acidic compounds that, over time, migrate into the paper of the artwork and cause it to yellow, become brittle and eventually disintegrate. Once this process begins it cannot be fully reversed — but it can absolutely be stopped.
A yellow or brown stripe on the surface of the mount, following the cut line of the window, is known as a mat burn. Again, this is acid damage from a non-conservation board.
A dark line or shadow around the edge of the artwork itself (sometimes visible through the glass) often indicates that the artwork has been in direct contact with the mount for an extended period using poor materials.
If you see any of these signs, the frame needs to be professionally dismantled and the artwork remounted using fully archival, acid-free, pH-neutral conservation mount board as a matter of some urgency. The longer the artwork remains in contact with an acidic mount, the worse the damage becomes.
Look at how the artwork is fixed in the frame
This is something that is difficult to assess without opening the frame — but it is worth understanding, and worth asking us to check when you bring the piece in.
Has it been dry-mounted? Dry mounting is a process in which the artwork is bonded permanently to a backing board using a heat-activated adhesive. It was widely used for photographs and prints through much of the twentieth century and is still, regrettably, used by some framers today. Dry-mounted artwork cannot be safely separated from its backing without risk of damage or destruction. It is, by any conservation standard, irreversible — and irreversibility is one of the great sins of framing. If your auction piece has been dry-mounted, it needs expert assessment.
Has it been taped? Many older frames use self-adhesive tapes — brown parcel tape, masking tape, or even Sellotape — to secure the artwork to the mount or backing board. These tapes yellow, become brittle and eventually fail, and the adhesives they use can stain and damage whatever they touch. When we open older frames, discovering a mosaic of ancient tape is unfortunately far from unusual.
Is there nothing holding the artwork at all? Just as concerning in the opposite direction — artwork that is simply loose inside the frame with no hinging will move around, rub against the mount and potentially abrade the surface over time.
The correct approach is to use conservation-approved, reversible mounting methods: Japanese tissue T-hinges, for example, which hold the artwork securely from the top without touching the face of the work, and which can be cleanly and safely removed at any point in the future without leaving any trace of damage.
Examine the frame itself
Now look at the frame moulding and construction with a careful eye.
Check the corners. The mitre joints at each corner should be tight, clean and square. Any gaps or movement in the corners suggest that the joinery is failing — which means the frame will be providing less structural support than it should. A frame in poor structural condition is also a frame at greater risk of dropping, with all the obvious consequences.
Check for signs of woodworm or pest damage. Older gilded and wooden frames sourced from auction rooms can occasionally carry woodworm — small circular flight holes in the wood, sometimes accompanied by fine dust. This needs to be treated before the frame comes into contact with any other artwork or furnishings in your home.
Check the surface condition. Gilded and decorative frames often have areas of loss — chips, flaking gesso or missing gilding — which may or may not be a concern depending on the nature and value of the frame itself. Period frames with original gilding have their own conservation value, and any restoration work should be approached carefully and sympathetically. Surface repairs to frames should always be in keeping with the original finish; heavy-handed gilding restoration can significantly diminish both the aesthetic and monetary value of an antique frame.
Look at the rebate — the lip inside the frame that holds the glazing and artwork in place. Is it deep enough to properly accommodate the glass, mount and backing? Is there any foam tape or other degrading material in the rebate that is in direct contact with the glass?
Turn it over: the backing board tells its own story
Remove any hanging hardware temporarily and examine the back of the frame carefully.
What material is the backing board? MDF, hardboard and cardboard — all commonly found in older frames — are acidic, and any acids they off-gas can affect the artwork from behind just as mount boards can from the front. A conservation-framed artwork should have an archival, acid-free backing board, often combined with a sealed backing system that protects against dust and environmental fluctuations.
Is there a dust seal? A strip of gummed paper or conservation tape around the perimeter of the back seals the frame against the ingress of dust, insects and humidity fluctuations. Its absence is not catastrophic, but its presence is the mark of careful framing.
How is the artwork hanging? Check that the hanging cord or wire is in good condition and properly anchored to D-rings or mirror plates screwed securely into the frame itself — never into the backing board. Cord attached only to the backing board is a serious accident waiting to happen. We see the results of this more often than we would like.
When to bring it to a conservation framing specialist
If you have spotted any of the above issues, or if you are simply uncertain — particularly with a piece of real value or significance — the right thing to do is bring it to a conservation framing specialist for a professional assessment.
At Menor, we offer a thorough checking service for exactly this situation. We will open the frame, assess the condition of every element, provide you with an honest report on what we find, and recommend the most appropriate course of action. In some cases, the frame simply needs new conservation glass and a remount. In others, the artwork may need careful attention before we can safely reframe it.
What we never do is rush. Every piece that comes through our studios — whether a recently-purchased oil painting or a fragile watercolour that has spent decades in the same frame — is handled with the same care and respect it deserves.
If you have just purchased framed artwork at auction and you would like us to take a look, get in touch with the team at your nearest Menor studio. We are always happy to advise.
Menor are members of the Fine Art Trade Guild and work to Guild guidelines and standards. We have studios in Sawbridgeworth (Hertfordshire), Cambridge (Cambridgeshire) and Harlow (Essex) and work with collectors, galleries, museums and private clients across the UK.