A Special Birthday Gift

We were so happy to reconnect with a customer from our days in Old City, who, like us, has relocated to Phoenixville! Not as happy as she was, because she had a special project for her husband's birthday, and needed a framer she could trust.

When she first came in, it was with a photocopy of a picture of a wine bottle. Not just any wine bottle, a 1970 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, with a label featuring artwork by Marc Chagall. That was her special gift for her husband, but she didn't want him to forget the bottle of wine after it was gone. She was hoping that we could build a frame for it, that she could present to him at his birthday dinner. Then she would remove the label and have us finish the fit. Not a problem at all, of course!

This couple are definitely wine aficionados; they have a wine room! While we framed these, she had some other labels from her last birthday dinner that would be framed as well. They would all hang in the wine room, and we needed to choose something that would feel elegant, old-world and masculine. A new line from Larson Juhl fit the bill excellently.



Sometimes my photography skills aren't as good as my framing design skills, so here is another picture of the moulding, called Dresden.
Even that doesn't do it justice! Dresden mouldings look antique; the finish isn't smooth. It's a different kind of rusticity than we've seen before, like layers and layers of finish built on top of worn wood. Warm tones of caramel and red show through the darker black/brown finish. In the right light, you can see beautiful cabernet highlights. (I think I have wine on the brain, don't you?)

We chose a cream rag mat that was just a little bit darker than the background of the label. Because the edges of the label were a little torn and had bits missing, we added a second mat in the same color behind, with the label floating in the opening. We mounted it with archival tape, so that it wouldn't lay flat. I think the worn edges of the label and the rough float mimic the fashion of the moulding in a beautiful way. To finish it off, we used conservation glass, so that the delicate printing and the vibrant colors of the Chagall print would not be damaged by UV rays.

Projects like this are a wonderful gift idea! When our customer and her husband see this, they will be taken back to a special night that they spent enjoying family, friends, great food and an amazing bottle of wine. What more could you ask for?