AELS picture frames

AELS picture frames and how they are made

Our picture frames are designed like small pieces of sculpture. Each one is cast in polyresin, which holds fine relief — beading, scrolls, bows, vines, flowers — without the chipping of old plaster. The finish is then brushed by hand over the casting, so the raised lines catch gold and the recesses stay dark, the way an antique frame wears after a century of light and dusting.

The materials are chosen for the experience of using a frame every day: a real glass front, a fold-out easel leg, metal hooks for vertical or horizontal hanging, and a backing that opens without tools.

Shapes and sizes

Openings are cut for standard photo sizes: 2.5 x 3.5 wallet prints, 4 x 4 squares, 4 x 6 and 5 x 7. Oval, arched, octagon and scalloped shapes crop the corners of a photograph and pull the eye to the subject. Larger 8 x 10 frames live in our gallery wall range.

Oval picture frames

The oval is our signature shape, and the black oval picture frame with gold trim is the one we make in the most sizes. Its contrast — a dark molding, a fine gold line, a pale print — strikes the classic balance for black and white photographs and old family portraits. Sage, blue, green and off-white ovals sit alongside it for rooms that already have color.

Color, art and display

Gold and black for drama, silver and light blue for cool spaces, off-white and pink for nurseries. Our frames hold photographs, an artist’s print, children’s art, pressed flowers or silhouette cutouts equally well. People love grouping three different shapes in one finish on a mantel; the pattern of shapes becomes the design.