What's the best way to frame a folded map

[Steve1958]

By way of introduction, I am a novice picture framer which until now has been a hobby. I have now retired from big time city work, and I am now starting to do small pieces of work to earn some extra beer money.

It's going well and up until now I have had traditional standard mount and frame work (prints, photos and watercolours) and have many satisfied customers. This evening though ...... I was asked if I could frame a piece of artwork where a street map of New York has been overpainted in places with landmarks. This map folds up very much like a normal city map and opens up to about 1.2m x 0.8m and is not particularly strong. It has folds in it as you would expect and one of the folds is already tearing at the edge (as all these type of maps do). The customer wants it framed to the edge.

There is an expectation that the creases from the folds will always be visible (this adds to the composition actually) but I am wondering what options I have in getting this into a frame, away from the glass and looking flat.

Any help anybody can give me will be really appreciated. Please treat me as a pure novice assuming I know little

Thanks

Steve

[silvercleave]

Welcome Steve, how old is the map and has it any monetary value??

When you know that perhaps someone will make a suggestion

Ian

[Steve1958]

Thanks for responding, most appreciated.

The map is new, and the owner did not say how much they paid, but it's an original piece of work which has sentimental value from their trip and not something they could replace. The map is the base background for the art composition. She actually has two of them she wants framed. Very contemporary street art style.

Thanks

Steve

[prospero]

Welcome Steve.

First of all you have to establish a basic truth: Are you a framer or are you a restorer?

Customers often have the impression that framers are some sort of magicians and can work miracles.

In this case a customer has bought you an item and has expectations that you are going to 'improve' it. Restoration of
art on paper is a specialised and skilled job. So is picture framing but the two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

As a framer you should take what you are given and do your best. In this case you could float mount the map and put it in a frame
with all required spacers, etc. It would still have the folds, but it had those to start with. You would have fulfilled your task and
the map would not be harmed in any way.
If the customer wants it flat, then direct him to a reputable restorer who has the knowledge to deal with it. Having it mounted onto
linen would be a idea. A common practice for the preservation of old posters and other items that are not printed on the best paper.

Don't let the customers problems become yours.

[Steve1958]

Thanks Prospero, some wise words here.

I don't think there is an expectation for me to improve the work, I just want to provide the best looking finish possible but without risk to the artwork. I know with photos and posters these can be glued onto foam board or other boarding materials. I have not done this before but this seems a straight forward process but these items have a certain strength that allows them to be rolled onto the board surface. This is a different proposition as it is a large sheet of paper.

I will not personally attempt to glue this onto a board unless someone can advise me of a safe way of doing this.

Whilst I think it would look best if it could be board mounted, I will not tackle this myself, I think it is too risky and as such, I would advise professional and more experienced hands than mine to achieve this if this is what she wants. I will offer to float mount.

Any other thoughts would still be welcome in ways to make this look as good as possible

Thanks Ian and Prospero for your very welcome comments

[prospero]

Well you seem to be thinking in the right direction Steve. The thing is, that sticking down is
a one way process. Things can go wrong. The general principle is that if you can't replace it
don't stick it down. Mounting a large flat piece of paper is simple in theory but in practice it can be tricky.
If you already have folds and bumps it's much more tricky.
What tends to happen where the paper has been deformed either by folding or localised swelling is that if you try to
flatten the bump it will not go back to where it started. Having no choice, it will fold over toward the edge of the bump
and form a nice sharp crease. You don't see this until it is stuck and then it's too late.

My strategy in this case would be to place the map between two sheets of mountboard (it's just about the size to fit std sheets) and leave it for a few
weeks with a small amount of weight on it. Few magazines - not much more. Have a look at it periodically and see how it's going. Maybe add a bit more
weight if it's behaving. You won't get it dead flat, but the aim is to get it generally flat.
I would use a platform float. That is, cut a piece of thick foamboard (5 or 10mm) about an inch smaller all round than the map. Use the 'Hedgehog' method
to attach the map. The foamboard can then be spot glued to a suitable backing and the map will float above the background. This will make any undulations
around the edges less noticeable. Celebrate the imperfections rather than trying to fix them. It is after all a folded map.

If you do it this way and the customer decides they don't like it - either straight away or in ten years time, the option of professional flattening
still exists.

[David McCormack]

I bet your next question is about hedgehogs

Have a read of the pdf at the bottom of this page https://www.lionpic.co.uk/info-store?id=28

[prospero]

Cheers David.

[David McCormack]

Just remember to be very careful when using the hedgehog mounting method

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[Steve1958]

Thanks everybody, including the pictures

I will be discussing options with the customer tomorrow so hopefully will be keeping it simple with help from the hedgehog

Cheers

Steve

[The Common Framer]

Hi

I have recently done one of these maps. They are not of any significant value - street art I think. I simply mounted using a standard sandwich mount and acid free hinges. The finished product obviously showed crease marks but that was all part of the look. I have a heatpress and offered the customer the option of drymount with usual caution regarding the irreversible non conservation nature of the process and they elected to leave as was.

looked good in a pop art kind of way.

regards

matt