If you were to look at the architectural designs of temples or cathedrals of many, many years ago, then you may notice the entrance ways actually appeared to “frame” the interior of the building.
Look carefully and you will see that the entrance way to these and other buildings appeared to be “framed,” thus creating a pleasing view of the inside. Soon afterwards, people decided to begin framing art with metal picture frames by molding painted plaster onto a plain wooden base.
The wood picture frame made its more formal debut after being laboriously carved by artists in order to display their art rather than relying on plaster to enhance the frames.
They became more ornate as the artists would embellish them by using the materials that were available, such as gold and silver.
During the renaissance era, picture framing art was taken up by furniture makers and wood carvers, which resulted in being able to obtain different shapes and sizes of frames.
The design of the picture frames actually reflected the personal inspirations of the different furniture makers and wood carvers that sometimes resulted in the frames becoming very expensive.
By the 18th century new picture framing equipment was developed that helped to significantly reduce the amount of time needed to make a frame. However, some feel that these types of innovations caused the cheapening of frames, as they could be produced more quickly and with low cost materials.
Many frame makers began using molds that they filled with wood composite in order to stretch the amount of picture framing equipment needed. Many of the traditional artisans continued to produce a more custom picture frame that was carved from high quality wood by hand.
But, with the automated technological advances being made, it soon became clear that producing them by machine rather than hand was far less expensive and time consuming.
Of course, if you look hard enough you will find that there are some picture frames that are still carved in the traditional manner by hand. If you are looking for a glass picture frame, then a good place to start is at arts and crafts fairs.
Many times there will be a booth set up by the seller to not only sell framing supplies, but to allow you to watch one being carved.
You can find handmade picture frames at arts and crafts fairs as well, and quite possibly the seller has a booth set up so that you can watch him carve a frame in the traditional manner of earlier times.