Asian Art Forum

Hello,

I recently purchased a large Chinese painting from my trip to China. The size of the painting is 54" wide and 27" high. It did not come with any type of matting. I went to a local Chinese Art store to inquire about matting and framing and I did not really like the "silk border" matting they used around all their paintings.
However the painting I brought was displayed in a frame without any matting and it looked really nice. The folks just took it out of the frame and rolled it up for me when I brought it.
I would like to know if I can just frame the painting with out using any matting or Silk border like all the paintings I saw in my local Chinese Art store. Are there any type of standard or rules I should follow to frame a Chinese painting? Please advise.

Thanks,

Tak

It depends on if the painting was mounted at all. If it's on a single layer of xuan paper, it probably wrinkles very easily, and will be nearly impossible for a western framer to work with (unless you find one willing to dry-mount the painting during the process).

If it seems to be as thick and nearly the body of children's construction paper, then it most likely has been mounted (the sheet of xuan paper has been laminated to one or more additional sheets of xuan paper). This can be worked with by any western framer.

Whether to use the typical Chinese silk brocade border in lieu of western-style matting is a matter of personal preference. Do it the way you like it - nobody will say it's wrong.

-Gary.

PS:
This page seems to be popular among people in your position:
http://www.orientaloutpost.com/howtoframe.php

Also I note you show examples of square paintings framed in rectangles and this appears awkward to me. Is it common in China to see this, or more usual to see square within a square, as I would more calmly imagine?

Personally, I think of framing a square painting in a standard-western-style rectangular frame as a compromise. They don't do this in China, as they almost always custom-frame the artwork, and square or 2:1 ratio paintings are the standard (for the rarely-found Chinese standard frames on the market).

I only show the option, as it is an economical way to frame square paintings in the west.

-Gary.