Whether you are a big fan of picture frames or just want to purchase some picture frames online for decoration use or as gifts for others, it’s not bad to learn something about what we love or are going to buy. As a professional team of picture frame manufacturing, we feel that we are responsible to share some basic knowledge or interesting facts and tips about frames so that you will have something to talk about while giving it out as a gift or chatting with your friends.
An Inventory of some “Most ” in the world of Picture Frame
The Oldest
Let’s start with some basic things you may like to know. If you are a true frame lover, or simply interested in the history of picture frames, you must know that the earliest frames are thought to be those stucco frames surrounded fayum mummy portraits, used to be hung in the owner's home until his/her death. Then it would be placed over the mummy. Another theory is that those portraits were painted when the owner was dying and would be carried around the city in a funeral procession before the body was taken to the embalmer.
However, things above are just too far away from our real life. Therefore, to be more physically, when speaking of the oldest surviving picture frame, we usually mean the one well preserved at the British Museum in London. It is a Roman-era, made in classic outlook of wooden picture frames, mixed tempera portrait of a woman, with extant, hanging cord of palm fiber. It had been made in Egypt at about AD 50-70, and was found in an Egyptian tomb and has been preserved perfectly till now.
The Largest
Finishing the introduction of the less interesting “most”, let’s talk about another “most” which you may prefer knowing about— the Largest.
What holds the record of the largest picture frame in the world is The Dubai Frame (Arabic: برواز دبي), an architectural landmark in Zabeel Park, Dubai. Standing at 150.24 meters tall and 95.53 meters wide, made out of glass, steel, aluminum, and reinforced concrete with designs of the logo of Expo 2020 embedded on the outer facade, it was described as "the biggest picture frame on the planet” by The Guardian newspaper. Visitors could take a traditional view of the Old City from one side of the frame, meanwhile, other representative modern buildings like skyscrapers can also be seen from the other side, which emblems the bright and glorious future of this land.
Fun fact: The Dubai Frames was once called “The biggest stolen building of all time” due to a controversial issue between the Government of Dubai and the original architect.
The project of Dubai Frame was originally designed by Fernando Donis, and selected from 926 proposals as the winner of the 2009 ThyssenKrupp Elevator International Award, held by the Government, attracting participants from all over the world to submit an emblem that could help promote “the new face of Dubai”. However, when the program was finished, Doris alleged that he had his intellectual property stolen as he had been denied credit for the design by the Dubai Government, which caused heated debate at that time.
The Most Expensive
Unlike what is usually considered that the artworks inside the picture frames are much more valuable than the frames themselves, however, this time, it’s totally the opposite.
Interestingly, the most expensive photo frame in the world was also born in Dubai, decorated with 10,000 diamonds on the surface of the circular frame in the image of a clock face, and cost over $2 million. It was designed and created by Debbie Wingham, a talented local artist, and further featured a painting of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s most iconic skyscraper, making itself an extremely luxurious piece.
Debbie once made her own comment in a video, “This is super sparkly, but that’s what you would expect from the world’s most expensive, but it’s balanced with the reclaimed metal, which I think, the contrast of the old and new also in keeps with the visual aesthetic which of course is time, you know the whole design of this is like the skeleton of a clock.” About the idea of hollow design, she also said, “By that, I mean, you know, the roman numerals, it’s the structure, but I wanted to cut it away so that you could see the spectacular building which really represents present-day Dubai.”
Actually, it isn’t just photo frames that Wingham has interests to create. In 2018, she unveiled a Million Dollar wedding cake worth a whopping $1 million. Later in 2013, she presented to the public a special abaya, which was embedded with over 200,000 hand stitches in 14-carat white gold thread, valued at $345,428. It seemed obvious that she kept an everlasting passion for luxurious artworks.
What an empty picture frame could do
Besides the interesting facts above, we also would like to share some other things about picture frames that may be more practical in real life. While we are choosing picture frames for home decor, there are always a variety of forms and shapes waiting to be picked and matched with our interiors. Among which, there is a special form standing out from those complex and colorful ones and leaving us a strange but refreshing impression with its minimalist appearance.
Symbolic Role
About the strange part, that’s mainly due to some prejudice people hold towards empty frames. Some consider it an invitation to bad luck or negative energy because they think the hollow part in the center would create an invisible space which attracts mysterious power from somewhere, most likely from the evil world.
In addition, other opponents consider it as an obstacle to successful negotiation and thoughtful discussion, because the emptiness, it would blank people’s minds and create gaps between people in the room, therefore they would never allow empty frames appearing in their office or meeting room, let alone use them in home decoration.
However, empty frames also have other special symbolic meanings. For example, some may display picture frames without any photo as their own way to remember a family member who passed away or friend who is missing. On the other hand, some might display empty frames for expecting new experience and memories to fulfill the empty.
Role in decoration
Besides the symbolic role, the empty frame also plays a significant role in decoration. Due to its simplest outlook, it could highlight the theme of your design, for example, it helps enhance the features of floral when empty wooden picture frames are used as bases of the wreaths. What’s more, some interior designers will decorate a huge blank wall with various picture frames in different sizes and shapes, but only the center frames a picture inside, all the rest are empty. In this case, empty frames are used aiming not to distract people’s attention and to keep the audience focusing on the center artwork.
Additionally, you could also place frames inside other frames to create interesting geometric designs, or create an eclectic effect by mixing and matching empty frames in different styles, colors and finishes.To sum up, gather a few empty frames, give them a makeover, a fresh coat of paint, then you could simply own your unique and affordable personalized corner of yourself.
Hope things we shared in this article could amuse you or help you relax. And of course we would be very pleased and fulfilled if it could be slightly helpful in your daily life.