Forum menu
I know it's a long shot, but so much on here is that I figure it's one worth taking.
I need to find a way of getting several works of art from the USA to me here in the UK. All pieces are egge tempera on board, and 43.2cms x 33cms x 3.5 cms in size.
I'm wondering if anyone has experience of shipping such things, and what I should look for in a shipper, as well as the sorts of cost I might be looking at.
"They need crating and shipping with an international art shipper. It will cost thousands of pounds"
You can ask her yourself. She's on her@pactbikes.com
A lot depends on the value ( financial and sentimental)
They're not big so a well made crate (made and packed by someone who knows their arse from their elbow) would mean you could then ship with reasonable confidence by a regular courier. The crate needs to protect the work but also needs to take any custom regs into account. It might have changed but back in the day when I used to ship are the other way if US customs didn't like the way the case was secured - they didn't like using a screwdriver- they'd just smash it open f they wanted to look inside then send the smashed case and contents on its way.
You could maybe try contacting an art gallery local to where the work is being sent from, and who export, if they van reccomend anyone to pack the work.
A key aspect of packing them is making sure the painting surface isn't in contact with anything as whatever is in contact with the tempera is going to jiggle and vibrate for hours as it travels and will rub or polish the surface. If they're not framed behind glass I can send you a sketch of a way to pack them.
They're not framed, and won't be until they get here, so a sketch would be brilliant.
The trick is to screw mirror plates to the back of the picture like you would if you were going to mount then directly to a wall
[img] 
[/img]
then make an L-section frame out of 3x1 timber and use that to make a sort of picture frame that the picture will then sit into - oversized so theres room for the lugs of the mirror plates -
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
then screw the pictures into the frame
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
you can then wrap that frame tightly in polythene and the picture is sealed from the elements but not in contact with anything
you can then wrap those frames together so that they protect each other and put the whole thing in a nice solid crate
Float that bundle of frames in loose material (torn up bubble wrap or packing chips so if the outer crate takes and impact or something pierces it the impact doesn't get transferred to the work (the first crate I sent to new york a docker drove the prong of a forklift through it but managed to miss all the work!
Mac has pretty much covered all you need to know.
My experience with shipping an exhibition to Chicago was as he describes but the case was about the size of an upright piano.
Tempera will most likely be painted upon a gesso primer which may be more brittle than an oil or acrylic painting. Lots of bubblewrap should see you safe.
If the paintings are small, go with a reputable courier. If they are larger / more valuable consider a specialist courier. I use Aardvark Art Services, they are a great bunch of guys and about a hundredth the price of Momart.
[url= http://www.aardvarkartservices.com/ ]Aardvark Art[/url] should be able to help you.
Yeah Mac for the win, used to work for a very large gallery and that's what we'd do for exhibitions travelling everywhere.