Housing & Framing Manager Joshua Rickards seals the edge of a housing enclosure

Housing & Framing

"Housing" is anything that holds an object, whether it's the box you slip your photographs into or the gilded frame hanging on the wall.

We help clients create the best custom storage and display solutions for their paper-based items, whether that means advising on sleeves for photographs, custom storage boxes for books, or museum-quality frames.

Services include:

  • matting
  • framing
  • archival boxes and folders
  • rolled storage
  • encapsulation
  • storage portfolios
  • custom storage solutions

Sealed Packages

Diagram of a sealed package

A unique offering at CCAHA is the sealed package. In a sealed package, the object, mat board/backing materials, and glazing (the glass or acrylic) are joined together as a single unit and sealed along the edges. This provides a safe environment—a microclimate—for an object, protecting it from changing humidity, dust, and pests. The sealed package can be used as storage housing or tucked into a picture frame for display. A framed sealed package looks no different from traditional picture framing, but provides a higher level of protection for the object.

Related

Technician cleaning a matted object

Treatment FOCUS: Housing a Collection of John Marin Pieces

At CCAHA, we’ve noticed a trend. We’re fielding an increasing number of requests for housing-only projects—clients are bringing us their stable objects and asking that we make sure they’re framed or stored in boxes that are up to the highest housing standards. There are many reasons for this uptick...
Conservation staff pose in front of framed Knoll posters

Treatment FOCUS: Four Large Knoll Posters

In 1972, the Louvre installed a unique design exhibition. Dozens of rolling Plexiglas and polished steel cubes housed individual pieces of furniture. The entryway to the 45-foot tall exhibition space was dominated by a huge, three-dimensional logo spelling out a single word: Knoll. The show was a...
Rare earth metal mounting of folded album

Treatment FOCUS: Mounting Ilya Kabakov's The Short Man

Russian artist Ilya Kabakov lived through three tumultuous decades in Moscow during the height of the USSR. From the 1950s to the 1980s, his work spanned a variety of media and subjects as he fell in and out of favor with the Soviet regime. In his capacity as a member of the prestigious Union of...
Inpainting a pastel

Treatment FOCUS: Amos Ashanti Johnson's Pastels

Treating pastels is always challenging due to the delicate, crumbly nature of the media. They also present handling and transport issues that must be considered during housing. When two large pastels from the University of Delaware Museums came to CCAHA, conservators had to balance improving their...

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