Please recommend a courier to deliver a painting on a 36" x 24" simple stretched canvas from Southampton to Whitby.
I have just sold another painting and the buyer lives up near Whitby so I either face a long drive up from Southampton or use a delivery company. I have previously used ParcelFarce who managed to break a solid wooden picture frame and canvas stretchers, but fortunately the buyer was able to remove and restretch the canvas and I just covered their costs. for international deliveries I have basically built a wooden box around the paintings and these, although very heavy, have survived.
This is the painting. It sold for about £600, so there is money to deliver it. Who would Singletrack World recommend and how best to protect it?
Simplest / cheapest way... Make up a frame of timber L sections from something like 4x1 - almost as if you are making a deep, exaggerated chunky picture frame. Mirror plate the picture inside the frame. Then wrap the frame in heavy duty polythene - something like visqueen - stapled tight across the front and back so that nothing can press against the canvas
As for a courier - there are specialist art movers (I used to be one many moons ago) but the only time its economical to use one for a single item is when there are big open submission events that they are collecting for - I used to run all round the country collecting works for submission for the Royal Academy for instance where all the works are going to one place. But it wouldn't be feasible to do it point to point unless the work was especially valuable or outsized (our vans were built to take 12ftx8ft canvas that seemed to be quite voguish at the time)
With standard couriers - just be careful to read through the excluded items if you're paying for their insurance, often art isn't covered so you've be wasting the premium. But other than that theres nothing to choose between them in terms of how carefully you can hope the package will be handled - they'll all have multiple transfers between collection vans/warehouses/trucks/warehouses/ delivery van and its those transfers are where the hazards lie.
Thanks. So that's close to what I do for the international ones, but I use 3mm hardboard instead of polythene to cover the canvas.
Just need to find a reliable courier now.
Sorry - I added a bit while you were replying - but in summary - to all intents and purposes the couriers are all the same
Also - polythene is also a fair bit more resilient than hardboard. And the recipient can just cut it to get the work out - no tools needed.
If it's a clear polythene theres the benefit that the people handling it can see whats inside and have a better understanding of what they are handling and pack/stack it appropriately.
As some on here can testify, I've had large artworks transported to them in the past. The last one was a 2 metre wide alloy plate that IIRC went from Manchester to Surrey. It made it unscathed as I used a specialist courier that only transport artwork and antiques. It was surprisingly reasonable, price-wise too. I think it was about 60 quid. There is an actually a price comparison website where you put your details in and different specialist couriers come back to you with a price. I'll try and find it for you now. EDIT: found it... www.shiply.com
I've tried using more modest sized artwork with normal couriers in the past and it hasn't ended well. It's then that you find out that their small print says that artwork isn't covered. A lesson learnt there.
I also did a massive piece on alloy sheet for TJ of this parish, but I decided to deliver that myself and go and see the great man himself and have a night out with him in Leith 🙂
. It's then that you find out that their small print says that artwork isn't covered. A lesson learnt there.
I learnt that lesson when ParcelFarce smashed the frame. I tried to argue that they hadn't damaged the art, just the frame, but got nowhere...
I will check out Shiply.
Thanks
Carbon fibre it into a cocoon.
A you bored enough to watch be trebuchet a crated artwork to Whitby ?
Tell the buyer you are going to use Evri. He (or she) will then probably panic and drive down to collect it.
I've got a few quotes back, and they're between 60 and 100 quid. I've spoken to the buyer, and they are in no massive rush, so I might wait for some slightly nicer weather and then have a weekend away in Whitby. That will probably cost about £150 in petrol, but it'll give me a nice weekend and I've never been to Whitby before.
I've used parcel force before without any problems but dropped stuff off at one of their hubs on the basis that was one or two less vehicle/location swaps for the parcel to be subjected to.
My concern is not so much the pickup and drop-off of it, it's the handling of the parcel in between. Because it's a large, flat package, and fairly light, it's easy to throw across the room, knock on the corners, or get something that sticks though the canvas. It's a problem.
Fortunately for me, I have family somewhere near Whitby who I can stay with, and the buyer is in no rush. So once the weather gets better, I am going to pop up that direction to see my family and deliver the painting by hand.
so I might wait for some slightly nicer weather and then have a weekend away in Whitby. That will probably cost about £150 in petrol, but it'll give me a nice weekend and I've never been to Whitby before
I was going to suggest driving it up yourself and having a weekend there as Whitby is lovely.
Watch the very start of The Train, Burt Lancaster. They are packing pictures before a big trip. Something I would copy.
https://archive.org/details/train-1964
6mins 20sec
Watch the very start of The Train, Burt Lancaster.
Is that the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies?
I see you’ve probably settled on moving it yourself. Just to mention that there are specialist art movers who move stuff for galleries etc. Perhaps unexpectedly “Mailboxes Etc” offer this as a service - I know someone who uses the Edinburgh branch regularly.
36 x 24? Kids bike box from LBS or Halfords. Get a few, cut them up and pack out the picture in the middle of the box.
Local Halfords to me store their cardboard out the back, already flattened.
Maybe even cut the box down lengthways?
Post via whomever takes that size box. But if it's bike box size then Paisley Freight will do it from 42 quid ish. I know experience on here varies but it's been 100% for me and they use APC next day.
Several layers of cardboard ain't gonna be affected by poor handling.
It won't look pretty, but it's eco and the only issue is it gives your customer a load of cardboard to recycle.
Bike Boxes is a great shout. I'm definitely going to use that in the future.
a weekend away in Whitby. That will probably cost about £150 in petrol
Whaaaaaat? Blimey crikey. A quick look in the AA route planner says about 320/330 miles each way (depending on which route you use) so thats 650 mile round trip.
Car doing ~26mpg? Oh, hang on, its a Porsche, isn't it? As you were.