An Overview of the History of Matting

Introduction             This collection has been assembled not to illustrate or duplicate the physical construction or even the actual history of the mat, but what we know or suspect of its design. The history of art on paper is the history of paper itself. The first mention of paper mills was in the late 13th century and not until the mid 15th century was paper first used in quantity. Only after paper manufacturing was fully developed and paper common that it was used in framing. For much of the early dates we can only speculate on what might have been done as paper art itself was not commonly matted or framed.             For the first four hundred years represented, very little matting or framing would have been done. Any bordering that was done was most likely done as repair and at a later date. Most repair consisted of backing onto another sheet of paper. The early paper art, a means of communication, was most often in folio or book form.   Mat decoration originated as the artists desire to set their work apart, to direct the eye to the image. It may have started as a simple line etched or engraved into the plate and then progressed to elaborate, eye catching borders. Although the earliest borders were on the art itself, they soon appeared on the papers used to mount and repair. Not until the development of glass was art on paper displayed in any great quantity and even then the first glass was expensive and of poor viewing quality.             The earliest type of mat would most likely have been of wood, made as part of the frame. It would have been decorated or at least gilded. Mats then separated from the frame and were paper covered wood frames. The first window mats were single sheets of paper. The first cardboard dates from the industrial revolution in the early 19th century. The cardboard was hand-covered with artists paper by the framer. The late 19th century saw the introduction of ready to use mat board. Framing as we know it had arrived.             This display of art from the 13th to the 20th century is as much about design as it is the matting and framing of art, for in truth they are the same. Art is design and the matting and framing a part of that design. What we know today as period designs are the best of each era. The line, the curve, the pattern, the color - only the best live on, the rest are lost. We can recognize many of the same elements of design serving more than one period. Good design is used again and again. Each period of matting and framing is an expression of contemporary designs or those of an earlier period. The most significant changes are in the materials, but the basics of good design remain constant.             These examples all incorporate modern materials. Most of the 19th and 20th century mats are exact replications of originals while many of the 18th century mats are copies of period designs. Most of the earlier pieces are simply interpretations in the spirit of an era. All the frames are authentic period reproductions in designs contemporary with ( or predating ) the art. Many of the older items would not have been framed in their time but at a later date.             From 1290, before matting, to 1992 when the mat is also the art, the mats purpose has always been the same: to create a favorable surrounding for art.  This is as true today as it was in the beginning.

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