FRAMING AND ETCHING

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 51, 24 November 1926, Page 17

FRAMING AND ETCHING

It is possible nowadays to obtain good signed original etchings at such a very reasonable price that their proper framing and mounting becomes to some of us a matter of importance There is hardly any other work of art that calls for such precise and correct treatment if the completed picture is to look its best. To frame a good print badly’ is simplj’ to create disappointment ; but a feyv yvell-framed and suitably mounted etchings, aquatints or yvoodcuts will provide a decorative scheme which gives distinction to a room and a good deal of satisfaction to their fortunate owner.

Etchings as regards tone are usually of tyvo types, either almost purely black and yvhite, or yvith a distinctly browii tone. For the former, either flat or bevelled plain matt finish black mouldings, three-eighths or half an inch wide, according to the size of the picture, are the best; for those in the softer tones, use similar mahogany or yvalnut mouldings. Wider mouldings will, except in the case of the very strong and fairly large plates, be found too heavy and a little funereal, and are apt to distract one’s eye too much from the picture itself.

Mounts should be a little yvider at the top than at the sides, and still a little yvider at the bottom. Very deep margins at the bottom are often seen, but care should be taken in this resdepth, or the result may be that the etching itself is someyvhat dyvarfed. For a picture with an engraved surface of, say, ten inches by eight inches, allow a margin at the sides of three and a half inches, a top of three and three-quarter inches, and a bottom depth of six to seven inches; for larger or smaller etchings use margins in proportion. If the drawing is of landscape shape, a little more may be allowed with advantage at the sides, and if it is very heavy at the bottom, it is yvell to leave here even a little greater depth than suggested above. Etchings must never be laid down closely to the back board; they should be stretched by slightly damping the whole surface, and either pasting or glueing a quarter of an inch at the margins.

To stick an etching entirely to a board completely destroys its value to a collector; and the cut mount must not be a thick board such as those used for yvater-colours; “plate paper” is the trade term for the proper mount; this is simply a very thin board. As regards the colour of the mount, a good rule to observe is that the tone of the mount paper should always be whiter or colder than the paper the etching is printed on.

Chicago is to have a gigantic building of 30 stories. Twenty-one yvill be occupied bv offices, and the remainder, the eighteen upper floors, will be a hotel of 4000 rooms for the housing of mechanics. A hall, yvhich yvill seat 2500, will also be included. The lakeside city has a poor subsoil for foundation, anil the expenditure on these yvill not be a small item in the £8,000,000 bill which the hotel will cost. A critic of the scheme points out that the structure will greatly accentuate traffic problems.