It's not often that we actually witness a near complete, if past, 
catalogue of picture framing disasters all wrapped in one picture frame, but recently we came across one. A young lady recently came to us with a pair of late, 18th Venetian pen and ink, framed drawings inherited from her grandmother. She liked them, she knew that the frames were damaged and the framing unsatisfactory and commissioned us to reframe the works, which we did to the required, archival standard. We decided that this re-framing commission would be quite useful in informing the public on of the dangers of bad picture framing, hence this post. now progressing, below here is a photograph of one drawings and under it, its legend, detailing the points we will discuss.
| Number | Item | Number | Item |
| 1 | Acidic brown packing tape | 6 | Artwork originally unfaded |
| 2 | Incorrect tack tape hinging | 7 | Artwork now faded |
| 3 | Residue from packing tape | 8 | Acidic sealant masking tape |
| 4 | Acid mount burn marks on artwork | 9 | Acidic backing |
| 5 | Acidic window mount | 10 | Peeling document pocket |
1) Acidic brown packing tape. Somebody, somewhere, at some point, decided that common, acidic, Kraft paper tape would be used to tape the artwork to its window mount . Unfortunately this is one very common and grievous mistake. Kraft tapes are horribly acidic and the acid will transfer or migrate to whatever it is touches or it is adhering to, in this case, a beautiful centuries old, work of art. The acid contaminations, can be reversed in many cases, but is is slow, skilled and delicate remediation undertaken by art conservators which is neither quick, simple, nor cheap.
2 ) Incorrect tack tape hinging