Smokin’ picture frame! Shadowbox for an heirloom pipe collection

We recently finished a shadowbox for an heirloom pipe collection, and we are over the moon about it!  How perfect is it, to put a photo of one of the pipes in action and create a fun timeline of historical and contemporary pipes? The rich color and supple mahogany wood of the frame looks worn and handled like the pipes themselves.

Museum glass completes the box with a crystalline clarity that allows the color and texture of the box contents to really shine!  Linen was used as the backdrop and sides for the box, in a sumptuous bordeaux color. Each photo was mounted and lovingly cradled in a tiny frame, to offset it from the background and coordinate with the gilded lip of the frame.

When we frame, we frame for keeps. All of the pipes were either sewn down to the boards or attached with handmade mounts. No glue or harmful mounting practices were used to hold them in place; so if a grandchild years down the line wanted to smoke one of these pipes they technically could!

Our motto as framers is to do no harm to the antiques and collectibles we handle. Our methods are designed to conserve and preserve items in as close to original shape as possible, and to cause no more harm to them with our methods.

You may not need a shadowbox for an heirloom pipe collection, but is there anything else you might have that could use the brag-box treatment? Come see us at The Frame & I, Prescott picture framer since 1984. 229 W. Gurley St. and get a consultation on how to show it off!