Wrapped canvas

A wrapped canvas has no outer frame and no glass, by design. The canvas is stretched over a solid pine bar and the picture carries on round the edge, so all four sides are finished and the piece stands 25 mm off the wall on its own. It is the lightest way to hang a large piece, and the least expensive.

Depth: 25 mm
Edge: Picture continues round
Frame: None
Glass: None

A wrapped canvas seen at an angle: no frame, a 25 mm body, and the picture continuing round the edge — From an angle: no frame, a 25 mm body, and the picture turning the corner.

Nothing is cropped away

The band that turns the edge is mirrored from the picture, not cut out of it. The whole composition, border and all, stays on the front face, so a bordered Mughal piece keeps its border and nothing important turns the corner.

Close view of the edge of a wrapped canvas, the border continuing round the side

The edge, close up. The design carries on round the side instead of stopping at a white band or a cut line.

Back of a wrapped canvas: pine stretcher bar, folded corners and staples

The corners are folded rather than cut, and the canvas is stapled behind the bar. The back is finished, not left raw.

Sawtooth hanger already screwed to the pine stretcher bar

A sawtooth hanger is already screwed to the top bar. Out of the box and onto one screw.

When to choose it

Choose wrapped where a frame would be one object too many: a set of pieces hung together, a wall that already has carved woodwork or a jharokha, or a plain modern room. It is also the lighter of the two mounts, which matters on a thin or plasterboard wall.

Prefer a frame? See the floater frame, with its 6–8 mm shadow gap. For sizes, see the size & scale guide.