Custom Crating and Shipping for Your Artwork
Your art collection–whether grand or growing–is special to you, and needs special attention if you’re moving or shipping it to a different location. Art comes in lots of shapes and sizes and demands custom care for relocating.
Moving and shipping companies have specialty boxes that are made for flat art, like paintings and mirrors. They may have padding built into the layers for extra protection, and they come in a wide variety of sizes so almost anything from a small textile piece to an ornately carved mirror can fit!
The Many Ways to Ship Art – From Boxes to Shipping
There are several ways to ship art, from really simple boxes to the bespoke crate. Sometimes you can blanket wrap an item and ship it on a small load truck. Nesting boxes work well for other things–bubble wrap the piece, put it in a box, and put that box in another well-padded box for shipping. Shipping companies can also build boxes for unusually sized art.
Sculpture and ceramics may require the custom built crate. Send the shipper the dimensions, a photo, and the value, and they’ll handle it from there. It’s handy to have copies of appraisals or bills of sale to confirm the value of the shipment, both individually and the aggregate. Don’t think a Steuben vase is too small for its own crate–if it’s valuable in both sentiment and money, it’s worth having a custom crate built!
How Experts Handle Shipping Artwork
Here are some of the things the professionals do to ensure your art arrives in the same pristine condition as it left.
- Wrap the items on a pristine surface to protect against dust and dirt
- Wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap
- Arrange for next-day delivery (but if you bring the artwork in on the weekend – Friday included – it won’t ship until Monday)
There’s an art, if you’ll pardon the pun, to shipping art. One of the crucial things a professional shipper understands is how to pack each item securely enough to protect it, yet not so tight that glass will break under pressure.
Contact Pack n Send for Your Needs Shipping Artwork
In the Houston area, Pack-n-send has been shipping artwork for generations. If you’d like more information on the custom crating process, contact us.