Antique frame repair & restoration · Houston

Antique Frame Repair & Restoration

Our gold leaf department restores and preserves antique frames — from delicate wooden profiles to elaborate carved gilt designs — through meticulous surface cleaning, structural stabilization, ornament casting, in-painting and toning — and, for frames that warrant it, full regilding.

Antique carved gilt frame on the SBAS restoration bench with pigments and gilding tools — On the restoration workbench · SBAS studio

The work & the approach

Restored by our frame specialists.

Frame restoration at SBAS lives alongside our gold leaf department, with our gilders consulted on the complex projects. That proximity matters: matching a hundred-year-old patinated surface requires knowing how it was built the first time.

Stewardship over erasure. Period frames are historic artifacts in their own right. Our default approach is to preserve what survives: we clean, stabilize, and bridge losses so the frame reads as a complete, unified object while its natural history — the gentle wear of a century of handling — remains intact. Full regilding to a bright, pristine surface is reserved only for frames whose original finish is entirely lost or beyond saving.

Restoration services & techniques

From stabilization to full regilding.

Surface Cleaning & Correcting Old RepairsGentle removal of surface grime, nicotine, and yellowed varnish, alongside correcting failed, non-archival past repairs and removing industrial metallic paint overpainting.

Structural & Corner StabilizationConsolidating brittle wood, stabilizing compromised miter joints, and securing loose decorative ornament before any surface work begins.

Composition Casting & Wood CarvingMoulding intact sections to recast missing composition ornament, or hand-carving replacement details directly in wood to bridge structural losses.

Full RegildingFor frames whose original surface is entirely lost, we take the frame back to the gesso and gild it anew in genuine gold leaf, from white gold to 22K yellow, over traditional gesso and clay bole — then tone it to sit quietly with its age.

In-Painting & ToningCustom tinting, glazing, and antiquing to ensure new leaf matches the exact sheen, bole undertone, and patinated age of the surrounding original frame.

Complete Finish RecreationRecreating lost historic finishes — such as Dutch ebonized pearwood, French swept gilding, or American gilt patinas — when original surfaces have been completely lost to time.

In the studio

The gold leaf department.

Restoration shares a workshop with our gilders. These photos show new frames being water-gilded — the same materials and skills applied when a frame warrants full regilding.

Carved frame coated in red clay bole, ready for gold leaf, in the SBAS Houston gold leaf department — Clay bole, ready for leaf

Gold leaf being laid on a new frame in the SBAS Houston gold leaf department — Gilding in progress

Freshly gilded carved frame before burnishing, SBAS Houston gold leaf department — Fresh leaf, before burnishing

In the Journal: How to care for — and when to restore — an antique gilded frame.

Begin

Once a work is yours, make us the first call.

Consultations at our Taft Street showroom, or at your home or office.

Schedule a Consultation