Black oval picture frames

Why a black oval frame

An oval opening softens a photograph the way a vignette does: the corners fall away and the eye goes straight to the face in the middle. A black oval frame adds contrast on top of that, so the image looks deeper and the frame reads as a clean outline on a pale wall. The thin gold trim on ours is there to separate print from frame — without it, dark edges of a photograph run straight into the molding.

Black ovals suit black and white photographs, old family portraits, silhouettes and botanical prints. On a gallery wall, one or two black ovals among rectangles break up the grid and give the arrangement a focal point.

Sizes and how they hang

We cast black oval picture frames in 4 x 6 and 8 x 10, and the other oval colors in 2.5 x 3.5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 inches. Each frame has a glass front, an easel stand for a shelf or mantel, and metal hooks so it can hang vertically or horizontally. The backing turns by hand: no tools to change the photograph.

Choosing between black, sage, blue and off-white

Pick black when the wall is light and the photograph has strong shadows. Off-white and cream ovals suit pale nurseries and wedding portraits. Sage, green and blue ovals carry the vintage look into rooms that already have color, and they pair with the black ones on the same wall.

Oval frames in AELS home decor

We designed our ovals as small pieces of sculpture: the cast relief, the organic curve of the molding and the hand-brushed gold edge are created to catch light the way an old frame does. That beauty works in contemporary rooms too, where one dark oval on a white shelf strikes an unexpected contrast with straight lines and open space.

People love them for more than photographs. An artist’s print, an abstract sketch, pressed flowers or silhouette cutouts all look right inside an oval, and the experience of changing what is in the frame takes a minute. Polyresin and glass are the materials; the shape and color do the rest of the design.