Map, Certificate & Document Framing

An antique map or an original document is usually irreplaceable, and old paper is among the most fragile things we frame. Light fades printed detail, acidic materials cause browning and brittleness, and poor mounting from previous framing often leaves damage of its own. At Harten we frame maps, charts, certificates and documents using conservation methods throughout: acid-free materials, reversible mounting and UV-protective glazing as standard. Every frame is built from scratch in our workshop to suit the piece.

Antique and Vintage Maps

Old maps arrive with a history. Foxing, toning along old fold lines, chipped edges and earlier repairs are all common, and none of them prevent framing. What matters is that nothing we do adds to the damage. We never dry mount or glue old paper. The map is held with fine tissue hinges attached with reversible conservation paste, carrying the weight of the sheet without stressing it. Where the edges of the sheet are part of its character, we float mount the map so the full sheet is visible inside the window. Our approach follows the same principles as our conservation framing service, applied to the particular problems of aged paper.

The Right Glazing for Old Paper

Glazing does most of the protective work in a map frame. UV exposure is the main cause of fading and paper degradation, so we fit UV-protective glass as standard, blocking over 99% of harmful wavelengths. For maps of higher value we recommend museum-grade water white glass, which combines the same UV protection with very low reflection and none of the green tint of ordinary float glass, so fine engraved detail and hand colouring read clearly. For very large maps and charts, UV-filtering acrylic gives the same protection at a fraction of the weight. We wrote a detailed guide to UV protection in picture framing that explains the differences between each glazing type.

Mounting Without Damage

Everything that touches the map inside the frame is acid-free and lignin-free: the mount board, the backing board and the hinges. Mount windows are precision cut on our CAD mount cutter, which means crisp corners, accurate margins and clean double or deep bevels even on complex layouts. Nothing in the construction is permanent. If the frame is opened in fifty years, the map should come out exactly as it went in.