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Displaying keepsakes without wearing them out
Displaying keepsakes without wearing them out: light is the cost of display, and it is cumulative. How to frame family pieces properly, rotate them.
What to take away
- Light damage accumulates and does not reverse. Display time is a budget you spend once.
- Sandwiching an item between glass and board with clips is not framing. It offers almost no protection.
- A window mat is not decoration. It holds the item off the glazing, which is where condensation and sticking happen.
- Rotate. Two items shown for six months each are in better shape than one shown for five years.
Sixteen display setups that work
The headline this page was generated under promised sixteen picks. Here they are as display setups, not products. Each one is a way to show an item without wearing it out. What follows is the set of decisions that determines whether a display damages the thing on the wall, which is the part a shopping list cannot cover.
- 5 by 7 inch black and white print, 11 by 14 inch mat, 2 cm rabbet, UV glazing.
- 8 by 10 inch color photo copy, original stored, same frame.
- Handwritten letter copy, original in polyester sleeve.
- Marriage certificate copy, original in flat box.
- Sampler textile in shadow box with acid-free tissue.
- Small quilt square in shadow box, out of direct sun.
- Newspaper page copy, original in acid-free folder.
- Postcard in 2 cm rabbet frame with window mat.
- Medal in shadow box held with polyester straps, not glue.
- Photo album page in clamshell box, short viewing only.
- Tintype in case, short viewing only.
- Daguerreotype in case, kept closed.
- Child's drawing on acid-free paper, copy on wall.
- Map in large frame, rag mat, UV glazing.
- Diploma copy, original in flat storage.
- Family Bible page copy, original in box.
What framing is actually for
The Canadian Conservation Institute note on framing works of art on paper gives three reasons for framing: to protect, to display more easily, and to improve appearance. It sets a physical requirement that most cheap frames fail.
The rabbet, the recess in the frame, needs to be deep enough for a mat, a backing board and glazing, roughly 2 cm in total, fitting snugly but not tightly. Metal clip-together frames are often not deep enough.
It is blunt about the popular alternative. Sandwiching an item between two sheets of glass, or between glass and board held with clips, is not recommended. It offers little protection from dust or atmospheric pollution, which still get in through the exposed edges, and it puts unnecessary pressure on the item.
That single paragraph rules out most of what is sold as a way to display memorabilia.
Source a 2 cm rabbet frame from a conservation framer listed by the Professional Picture Framers Association, or order one from an archival supplier such as Gaylord Archival, University Products, or Talas.
Light is the real cost
Every hour on a wall is spent, not lent, and the exchange rate is known. The Canadian Conservation Institute's note on environmental guidelines for paintings states the rule as an equation: damage by light is proportional to intensity in lux times exposure time.
That is the whole argument for rotation. You cannot make light harmless, but you can spend less of it on any one object.
The same note is sober about how far low light gets you. Even at or below the prescribed low level of 50 lux, it says, highly sensitive lake pigments and aniline dyes begin to fade noticeably within one and a half to twenty years.
Filtering ultraviolet helps with yellowing and embrittlement. But visible light is what fades color, and the only control there is intensity and time.
What to display, and what not to
| Item | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Color photographs | Display a copy. Originals fade fast |
| Fiber-base black and white prints | Display briefly, rotate, keep out of sun |
| Documents and certificates | Display a copy, especially if handwritten in iron gall ink |
| Textiles and samplers | Framed properly, in low light, for limited periods |
| Newspaper pages | Copy only. Newsprint yellows in weeks in a bright room |
| Anything already faded or stained | Off display until someone competent has looked at it |
Build a rotation
Pick a wall, not a collection. Hang three or four pieces, note the date, and change them on a schedule you actually keep, perhaps twice a year. Store the rest properly in the meantime.
Our comparison of glazing, mats and hinges covers the components, and the notes on storing pieces between rotations cover where they live when they are off the wall.
A sample two-year schedule: Display group A from April 1 to September 30 year one. Display group B from October 1 to March 31 year two. Display group C from April 1 to September 30 year two. Display group D from October 1 to March 31 year three. Each group gets six months on and eighteen months off.
Store off-display items in acid-free tissue, polyester sleeves, or polyethylene bags, then in corrugated polypropylene boxes. Suppliers such as Gaylord Archival, University Products, and Talas sell these materials.
Common questions
Is a north-facing wall safe?
Can I hang originals at all?
Does museum glass mean I can hang anything?
What about display cases and shadow boxes?
In this guide
- Memory display ideas how to mount a copyMemory display ideas how to mount a copy: use reversible supports for the original, keep glazing off the surface, and leave a stuck original in its frame.
- Glazing, matboard and hinges for memory display, compared for a first frameGlazing, matboard and hinges for a first frame, with the named products and acid-free tape worth comparing before you spend anything on a display.
- Memory display practice for a weekend: reversible paste and mat windowsWeekend spent learning to mount and support: a two-day practice plan done entirely on scrap and copies, cooking a reversible paste, cutting mat windows.
- 4 parts of memory display storage, explainedStoring framed pieces and textiles between rotations: where display items go when they come off the wall, vertical screens for frames, flat storage for textiles.
- Memory display skills split into three separate practice projectsRolling a flag, framing a sampler, and building a rotation board: three contained projects that teach a single technique each without risking a collection.
