Rahmenatelier Maschera D'oro

Maschera d’Oro Frame Workshop Your workshop for picture frames, mirrors, framing, restoration, and gilding in Arlesheim, Basel-Landschaft.

 

Dear customers,

From May 12, we will be open again during our normal business hours.

Since 1991, we have been lovingly handcrafting custom frames for pictures and mirrors for our customers. We offer everything you need for your picture. From matching mats and picture frames to oil painting mounting and handmade, unique frames with white or orange gold leaf, silver or platinum gold. This allows us to respond specifically to your needs in terms of size and color, creating the perfect frame for your requirements.

Our areas of expertise include the in-house production of Art Nouveau and Renaissance frames, specially tailored to your picture or mirror. We also have extensive experience in the restoration and gilding of important objects and relics such as Buddha figures and church altars.

We are happy to provide personal advice in our studio in Arlesheim, Basel-Land, or by phone at +41 61 701 98 22.

About us

M. Senn & M. Bader Federally certified gilders

The Maschera d'Oro picture frame studio has been in existence for 26 years. It was founded by Monika Bader and Martina Senn, both of whom are trained picture frame gilders. In our studio in Arlesheim Basel-Land, we lovingly craft everything by hand. We produce special frames for your pictures, matching them in size and color.

Everything your picture desires!

As a specialist shop for handmade picture frames, restorations, mirrors, and gilding, we offer everything you need for your picture. From matching passe-partouts and picture frames to oil painting mounting and handmade unique frames with white or orange leaf gold, silver, or platinum gold. Museum-quality matboard in 80 different light shades and high-quality special glass are our standard. We are also the right place for mirror and picture repairs as well as the restoration of objects and picture frames. On request, we will be happy to visit you in Baselland or Basel to advise you or pick up your picture or mirror. We deliver and/or install.

Specialist areas

Our areas of expertise include the production of Art Nouveau and Renaissance frames, which we manufacture in-house and tailor specifically to your picture or mirror. We are also the only specialist shop in German-speaking Switzerland to specialize in the handcrafting of Venetian masks. During the Christmas season, you will find lovingly handcrafted wooden balls finished with gold leaf. We have extensive experience in the restoration and gilding of important objects and relics such as Buddha figures and church altars.

STYLE FRAMES

Each frame profile has its own art historical era, ornaments, and techniques: We are happy to advise you on the right style frame for your artwork. From Romanesque to Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque to Biedermeier, Art Nouveau, and Historicism, we will create the right frame for you. In addition, we offer alterations to existing style frames or the addition and restoration of damaged frames. Together, we (Monika Bader & Martina Senn) have 52 years of professional experience and can therefore draw on our extensive knowledge. Above you can see a Renaissance aedicule frame handmade with a mirror at Maschera d'Oro.

MIRROR FRAMES

In our shop, you will find everything from Renaissance frames with engraved ornaments to engraved Art Nouveau frames. We are also happy to be inspired by you and your ideas and work with you to develop the most beautiful solution to perfectly display your artwork.

MODERN FRAMES

Whether you are looking for a simple wooden frame, a glazed, painted, or natural precious wood frame, or leaf gilding with white gold, silver, or orange gold in countless different profiles, together we will find the right frame for you. We can also mount your picture or object in a Plexiglas cover or between two Plexiglas panes.

FRAME MANUFACTURING & MATERIAL

We produce all corner frames in-house, lovingly handcrafted in our studio. We use only high-quality materials and traditional processing techniques. Here are some of our frames:

CHANGE FRAMES

We offer clip-on frames in standard sizes as well as custom-made frames. We use only high-quality materials such as acid-free cardboard and acid-free adhesives. We work with special glass, such as anti-reflective art glass with 70% UV protection or museum glass with 95% UV protection, to ensure that your artwork is optimally protected for many years to come. We cut the matboard to size in-house, including round or oval cutouts.

The roots of the gilding craft date back to the Middle Ages.

Recipes, materials, and techniques have remained virtually unchanged to this day. We feel committed to this tradition, and so our frame workshop and gilding studio produces high-quality classic and modern picture and mirror frames. Like their historical predecessors, these frames are characterized by their durability and develop a beautiful patina over the years. Gilding techniques:

• Poliment gilding
• Oil gilding
• Back glass gilding ("old school" shop window advertising)
• Surface design of wooden objects, etc.

 

A mirror is like a work of art that reflects whatever is in its center.

Our mirrors are unique pieces, made in our workshop in Arlesheim Baselland, and therefore no two are alike.

Since the invention of the mirror, there have been very few objects of greater importance. It is no coincidence that in earlier times, mirrors were reserved for the nobility. To our perception, mirrors act like windows, turning a wall into a space that opens to the outside, yet we only see ourselves. It is interesting to note that no image (even one taken with the best camera) can capture a person as well as a mirror. Therefore, the impression left by this work of art is always unique, and only in this way can one truly search for flaws in the mirror.

A room without mirrors is like a room without light. This effect is actually a law of physics that can only be achieved really well with high-quality mirrors (at least 2 mm thick). This is because the mirror does not allow the light beam to pass through, but instead bends the straight light beam and sends it back wherever we are standing. This causes the light in the room to appear multiple times, making us feel happy and cheerful.

To achieve the best lighting effect, we only use mirrors with a minimum diameter of 2 mm. Of course, we manufacture the frames ourselves in our own workshop using a wide variety of ornamentation techniques, with white gold, orange gold, or silver. Together with you, we will find the ideal mirror for your living situation.

Picture frames serve to protect paintings and graphics in the long term, complement their style, and present them in the best possible way.

Today, historical frames are significant antiques. Museums, galleries, and private customers are among the passionate collectors of antique frames.

We replace missing or damaged parts with the utmost care and expertise. Whether for old, carved, and gilded picture frames and mirrors, candlesticks, or turned woodwork. We would be happy to discuss your requirements with you. Restoring antique frames is one of our favorite tasks.

The possibilities available to us in our frame workshop allow us to produce almost any historical or modern frame profile.

We can combine our frame profiles with every conceivable color or gold/silver finish to achieve a truly convincing result. As trained and experienced gilders, we are able to develop framing suggestions that are individually and perfectly tailored to your picture. Especially in the higher-quality painting sector, standard industrial moldings are hardly appropriate, and even less so for older art. This is precisely what we specialize in. We can also produce visually convincing reproductions of old styles that are so characteristic of antique picture frames.

We only use wood from sustainable sources in Europe for our wooden frames. You can choose from a wide variety of woods, such as maple, pear, cherry, oak, lime, walnut, and spruce. All of our wood profiles can also be made into round or oval frames.