Antique French Picture Frames
Find antique French picture frames for sale. We cover several styles and eras. See French style picture frames from Louis XIV up to Napoleon III. They are custom reproductions: you can buy them in the specific size that you want.
Antique French frames are very popular among collectors. Indeed, France has played a significant role in the field of furniture since the early 1600s. Check out our collection of 18th—and 19th-century French frames, available in different finishes.
French style picture frames influenced Italy
The spirit of the France revolution reached Italy consolidating the relations between the two countries. Probably due to that historical event, Italian artistic culture started looking after the new republic. From the early 1800s, there have been in Italy a significant production of French style picture frames. North Italian Empire frames aren’t that different from French models.
After the first Napoleon time of governance, when the Empire style slowly faded away, other artistic elements were picked from the past. Craftsmen realized, especially in North Italy, a new eclectic form of art. In other words, master carvers built their models looking after Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical French art.
Custom antique French frames
We can reproduce antique French frames in any size. To manufacture a frame, we first create a thin wood mat that fits the painting. From that point, we start to create the complexity of the French structural frames. They’ve got those typical curves all around the sides, full of decorations.
Working with precise measures matter
The curved shapes of antique French picture frames don’t favor bar production. Thus, the way to speed up the manufacturing process is to rely on standard sizes and the production of already-made frames. Unfortunately, paintings do not always fit with standard-sized frames.
To solve the issue, the mandatory solution is to use the traditional technique of realizing custom frames. They’re for sure more expensive but in the end, the work comes out better done.
French style picture frames for 1900s paintings
Nowadays, in Italy, we keep on framing modern masterpieces with French style frames. Despite they don’t belong to the same era, it looks like collectors like the contrast. In fact, modern paintings are usually sober as they come from the rationalism of the 1900s. On the other hand, the richness of the antique French frames with their complex decorations stands out.
Accordingly, customers look for contrast to add value to modern art. With the use of white wood mats, the informal canvases light up. In the last few years, we often framed significant painters of the 1900s. For instance, we framed Pablo Picasso, Giorgio Morandi, and Lucio Fontana respectively with our French style frames cod. 029, cod. 036, and cod. 037.
Mixing Old and New: How antique French frames elevate modern art
Pairing a minimalist painting with an antique French frame might seem like an odd choice, but it works beautifully. The clean lines of 1900s art meet the ornate curves and carvings of French craftsmanship. This contrast doesn’t clash; instead, it highlights the unique qualities of both. In other words, the contrast lets the viewer focus on the painting with no distractions from the outside rationalist interiors of contemporary design, sometimes even too sober to spot masterworks that embrace the same concept.
Collectors love this unexpected combo. It gives a painting more presence, more personality. A sober canvas suddenly feels richer, simply by sitting inside an antique frame full of detail and story. It’s like placing a modern thought inside a classic poem.
We’ve seen it again and again—frames from our antique French collection (like codes 029, 036, and 037) used to elevate works by Picasso, Morandi, and Fontana. The result? Instant sophistication.
Custom antique French frames turn simplicity into elegance
Modern paintings that embrace emptiness, silence, and space, when surrounded by antique French frames, become more powerful. Indeed, the rich and gilded frame creates the right borders to encase the piece of art and completes it. For this purpose, we need to add the concept of custom framing and why it matters so much.
A standard size just won’t do when you’re trying to match the energy of a painting with the right historical shape, because that would be more like an adaptation. On the other hand, when you go for a custom reproduction, each detail, each curve in the frame, becomes part of a deep visual conversation.
French style picture frames: A legacy of distinction
Our collection of antique French frames isn’t just inspired by the past—it carries it forward with care and craftsmanship. Each model we offer is the result of years of study and hands-on experience, built to reflect the beauty and elegance of the originals. From intricate carvings to custom sizes, every frame is made to enhance the artwork it surrounds.
Collectors and art lovers alike come to us not just for a frame, but for something that adds value and meaning to their piece. That’s what makes our antique French frames special—they don’t just finish a painting; they give it a new life.