museum mounts for 3-d objects

Framing three-dimensional objects is a specialty of ours. It's a great way to tell a story, protect an object, and so that it'll be preserved for generations to come. But what if you don't want to frame it? Some people want to physically interact with the object, so say an antique instrument, an artifact of some kind, something like that. Well, that's where museum mounts come in, and I can't think of another frame shop in our area that actually custom makes these.

Our approach is the same with every project. First, we need to understand the story. In this case, we were presented with a core sample, which was taken from the Floris Lab of the Bora Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. It's a state-of-the-art facility and it's being presented to the retiring chair of the department who is integral in the design and mission of the Bora Center.

Next, we need to figure out how to safely present the object due to the weight of this object. However, steel will be the material of choice as opposed to brass or aluminum and some of the other materials we work with. After some careful measuring, the foundational parts are cut and prepared for welding. Third, the client's design requirements need to be met. In this case, they wanted to have the mount be evocative of a typical chemistry retort stand. I don't know if you remember these from high school. I barely did, so I had to look one up on the internet. So we carefully bent round stock to match the diameter of the core sample.

Finally, they wanted an engraved plate to read Better Living, which is a reference to DuPont's classic advertising slogan, better Things for Better Living through Chemistry. But in this case, it's also a well wishing for the recipient's well-deserved retirement. And here we have at a custom made museum mount where the object can be removed and safely returned from presentation, all while incorporating the chemistry retort stand design, and the nameplate that the customer requested.