Mat (picture Framing) - Functions - Decoration

Decoration

The picture-framing mat is most commonly known by laymen for its use as additional decoration to enhance the look of a framed piece, sometimes in conjunction with a fillet or more rarely, liners made of wooden moulding with a cloth surface. Although matting usually contains only one opening per layer, it may contain none if a picture is "float-mounted" or "top-mounted" (placed on top of the mat), and mats with two or more exist, more commonly with photography of the family or pictures of individual family members type than other types of artwork. Typically the mat or mats, if matched carefully and properly proportioned, serve to help draw the eye in towards the framed piece, or towards a particular key element of the piece. However, while the mat is usually regarded as something to complement or set off the artwork to best effect, or not to interfere or compete with it (neutral-colored mats are often preferred by high-end art galleries), there are some examples of the mat being regarded by the artist as a part of the artwork. Mats can be decorated as described below, used as a surface for the continuation of the artwork within, or can incorporate three-dimensional aspects, though the last two are highly unusual.

Mats are fairly adaptable in the visual sense. Since they are typically quite thin (American-made mats are usually 1/16 of an inch thick, for example), they are able to be cut to "stack" inside of a display, allowing for double, triple or quadruple matting, or even allowing for a fillet in between mats. Mats are available in numerous colors and shades and, less commonly, in preprinted patterns or designs. Mats can easily be found or altered to include further decorative features, such as a cloth covering (most commonly linen or silk, though mats with leather coverings or various other types of cloth covering are also available from some companies) or other decorative coverings or coatings (such as metallic coatings, or textured and patterned coatings that can include rice paper).

Because the mat is thin, but not razor-thin, it can also be carved (traditionally by hand, though computerized mat-cutting systems have also been developed), to feature a design, such as lettering or a simple image; since the carving consists mainly of cutting away a small portion of the top decorative layer of the mat, this means that the carved design will show up as the color of the mat's core. (There have been examples of sandpaper being used to sand into the mat and reveal the core, or incisions made into it with the same result.) Most mats are only available with a white core, but a handful of mats are also available with a non-white core, most commonly black, though a smaller number are available with bright green, red, yellow or blue cores.

While most mats are generally rectangular in shape, with a rectangular opening, in addition to fairly common oval, oval-apertured mats designed to go with oval frames, there are also very unusual examples of mats in other shapes.

Mats are, with very few exceptions, made of paper-based material. They tend to take well to minor surface additions, including ink and paint (a very wide variety of other media, including fumage, have been used); cloth-covered mats can also have objects such as pins, flags or cloth patches pinned or sewn to them, a technique frequently used in shadowboxing to avoid having to glue items to the backing. It is also possible to affix a small metal plate to the surface of a mat. Such plates are typically made of brass, and can also be affixed to the picture frame itself if the frame is made of wood.

A common form of decoration on non-cloth coated mats is the French line or line, and the French panel or panel. A French line or line is a line drawn on the mat, usually in ink or paint and usually drawn to form a complete rectangle or square around the opening in the mat. It is used as additional decoration to help draw the eye in towards the center of the display, and can be done in pencil or any color of ink or paint, including metallic inks. A French panel or panel is similar to a French line, with the exception that it is thicker, formed from decorative material ranging from gold leaf to a design in ink or paint. Typically a painted French panel will be done in watercolor, which is also sometimes referred to as a watercolor panel.