Red List Comment Submission

Commenting on: Composition picture frame making

Section one - About you

Section two - Description of the craft

If you are commenting on an existing craft, please select it here and skip the next two questions

Please enter the name of the craft you would like us to add here.

If this is a new craft type please select the most suitable category

Please identify country, region, county or town

Please identify country, region, county or town

Please identify an era/century/approximate historic period.

Heritage Crafts uses a system of four categories of risk to assess the viability of heritage crafts. A heritage craft is considered to be viable if there are sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation. For more information on definitions see http://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/categories-of-risk/

Section three - Current numbers of those practising the craft in the UK

People earning their main craft income from this craft (selling, commissions, conservation/ restoration and/or teaching).

People practicing this craft commercially (selling, commissions, conservation/restoration and/or teaching) but as less than half of their income.

People acquiring skills in order to become a professional in this craft, they probably have to work under supervision even if they are earning money while training.

People whose knowledge and ability is at a level of the most skilled practitioners of this craft.

People who do not intend to practice this craft professionally or at the highest level.

Section four - Issues affecting the viability of the craft

Existing content:
  • Market – long term declining demand has led to the lowering of financial viability and quality. An ongoing reduction in the number and size of workshops is resulting in a shrinking base of craftspeople. There is competition from poor-quality simulations made overseas. Some workshops carve replicas of composition ornament frames rather than using the same materials. Some conservators/restorers make composition ornament frames for specific projects, but this is not a substitute for a dedicated trade of specialist makers.
  • Training – there are not many places teaching the craft. Most of the available educational opportunities are focussed on conservation/restoration rather than making. Firms making picture and mirror frames train their own staff in-house as there are few formal training routes. George Jackson Limited train new practitioners in composition including batching, pressing, cutting and applying.
  • Short courses – It is difficult to run comprehensive courses in framemaking as there are many stages that require drying times, as well as the necessary workspace and specialist equipment.
  • Lack of training in conservation/restoration – A specialist conservator/restorer needs to have a detailed working knowledge of the craft skills required to make, ornament and decorate a frame. There is little specialist training available in either making or treating frames.
  • Sourcing of materials – Most makers and conservator/restorers prepare their own composition from increasingly expensive materials. Readymade fresh composition for customers to press into ornament is sold by only one maker in the UK. Pressed composition ornament sold for customers to mount onto objects is retailed by only one firm in the UK – the trade used to rely upon framemakers sourcing different ornaments from each other (see Coibion).
  • Tools and equipment – The availability of original hand carved press-moulds is declining, and much depleted compared with the nineteenth century, as new ones are no longer being made. Antique moulds are often now sold as treen to collectors, rather than being kept together and in use as tools by the trade – pairs and sets of moulds tend to be split into separate lots at auction, thereby the means of production are becoming disassociated and dispersed. Instead, makers and conservators/restorers rely upon modern mould-making materials and technologies, if financially viable.

e.g. lack of qualifications, funding for training etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. lack of demand for products/skills etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

Tick the box if there are difficulties with the supply of raw materials, allied materials or tools

If yes, please describe the issues below

i.e. issues around running any small business, not just crafts

If yes, please describe the issues below

Is the main workforce made up of people who are approaching retirement age?

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. legal restrictions on materials, health and safety etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. Brexit, Covid-19, conflict

If yes, please describe the issues below

Please describe any other issues

Section five - Current Initiatives to preserve craft skills

Please describe any UK projects or schemes

Section six - Main players in the craft – please tell us who you know about

Please list any known practitioners of this craft — add a row item for each person or business and complete the fields to the best of your knowledge. To get started click the `Add practitioner` button below.

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Section seven - Optional additional information

It may include when and where the craft developed, how it has changed over time, etc.

e.g. festivals, religious celebrations, agricultural practices, music, dance etc.

e.g. religious, ethnic, social class. Please give an overview of the techniques involved in the craft.

This may involve different materials, techniques, styles or finished products.

e.g. books, websites etc.