Deep shadow-box frames
Custom depths from 35mm up to 120mm to hold shirts, gloves, bats, medals, caps, records, instruments and heirlooms without crushing or forcing the piece. Every frame is built around the exact object.
Bespoke Memorabilia Framing · Manchester
Memorabilia
Framing.
Hand-built shadow-box frames for sports memorabilia, military heirlooms, signed shirts, boxing gloves, medals and 3D keepsakes — conservation mounting, UV glass, no damage to the piece. Made in Timperley, shipped UK-wide.
Built around the object
If it carries a story, we'll frame it.
Memorabilia is personal — a signed shirt from the match you never forget, a grandfather's medals, your child's first boxing gloves, a vinyl record that shaped a year. We build bespoke frames that protect the object and present the story, using the same conservation techniques museums trust: acid-free mounts, hidden fixings, UV glass.
Every frame is made to the object's exact depth and proportion. Deep shadow-boxes hold 3D pieces; multi-aperture mounts combine shirts, tickets and photographs; conservation glazing stops fading and tarnish. Nothing is drilled, glued or pinned through the piece.
Conservation-safe mounting
No glue, no pins, no drilling. Objects are held with hidden archival fixings, acid-free mounts and soft straps that protect signatures, fabric, metal and patina. UV glass as standard.
Sports to family heirlooms
Football and rugby shirts, boxing gloves, cricket bats, military medals, ceremonial caps, vinyl records, christening robes, family keepsakes — if it matters to you, we'll frame it.
Three ways we frame it
Sports, service heirlooms or three-dimensional objects.
Sports memorabilia
Signed shirts, boxing gloves, cricket bats, rugby caps, cycling shirts, golf flags and match-day keepsakes. Deep-set frames with UV glazing, hidden stitching and optional engraved plaques.
Military & service heirlooms
Medals, cap badges, ceremonial swords, berets, photographs, citations and commemorative pieces. Multi-aperture conservation mounts that honour the service and the recipient.
3D objects & collectables
Vinyl records, musical instruments, christening robes, first shoes, model vehicles, taxidermy and family heirlooms. Custom depths and hidden mounts turn objects into wall-mounted art.
Before we quote
Half of what arrives here, we’ve never framed before.
A signed shirt we can scope in a sentence. A ship’s bell, a christening robe, a set of vintage lures or a grandfather’s pipe is a different conversation, and it always starts with a photo. Send one over and we can usually tell within a minute whether we’re looking at a shallow tray or a 100mm box — which changes the moulding, the glass and the price.
From there the piece comes in and is handled once, on a clean bench, by whoever will build it. We log it in against your name, photograph it as it arrived, and flag anything we find before we quote — a loose fitting, a split along a fold, a repair someone made years ago. Every frame we build comes apart again without damage, so a piece that later goes for valuation, auction or a family handover can be opened by a framer who has never seen it before.
Sometimes the honest answer is that a frame is the wrong home. A tall trophy, anything with moving parts, or a piece that really wants to be seen from all sides is better in a cabinet than pressed flat against a backing board. We’d far rather say that on the phone — 0161 669 1835 — than take the job and hand back something that doesn’t do the object justice.
Inside the box
Every support is shaped to one object, and only that object.
Once the piece is on the bench, the build starts with a single question: where can it safely take its own weight? Every support — cradle, shelf, shaped recess or soft strap — is cut to that individual object so the load sits on the parts made to carry it. A sole rather than a lace. A base rather than a rim. A seam rather than a signature. Nothing rests on stitching, on soft old leather, or anywhere ink has been laid down.
Depth is measured, never estimated. Our boxes run from 35mm for something close to flat up to 120mm for genuinely bulky pieces, and we spec from the deepest point plus clearance. That clearance is doing real work: in a deep box the object sits well back from the glazing, so nothing is pressed against the glass and the piece keeps a shadow around it — which is what makes a shadow box read as a display rather than a squashed sandwich.
Before anything is fixed, we dry-fit and look at it from the side and from below. Those are the angles a wall actually gives you. An object that sits perfectly square on a bench can look like it’s pitching forward at eye level, so we adjust the tilt until it hangs the way you’ll see it.
Collections & practicalities
A collection needs a hierarchy before it needs a frame.
When a box of things arrives — the shirt, the ticket, the programme, three photographs and a cap badge — the first job is deciding what leads. One piece carries the display and everything else is set around it, quieter and smaller. Give six items equal billing and the eye has nowhere to land. We lay the whole lot out on board and send you a photograph of the arrangement before a single aperture is cut, and if an engraved plaque is going in we agree the exact wording at that point, since brass is unforgiving of a typo.
Turnaround is 7–10 working days from the moment we have the object and a signed-off layout — boxing gloves run 10–14, because each cradle is built to the specific pair. A single object in a shadow box typically runs £140–£200; multi-object displays £180–£320; larger military sets with several apertures and a plaque £250–£450. Shirts are priced on the football and rugby pages.
Finished pieces are double-boxed and go out by insured courier anywhere in the UK, or you can collect from the Timperley workshop — bring the boot rather than the back seat, as deep boxes are heavier than they look. If you’re still weighing up which pieces are worth framing at all, our guide to framing sports memorabilia works through that decision.
Fast Quote
WhatsApp a photo of your piece — get a framing quote today.
Conservation-safe mountingUV glass as standardDeep shadow-box frames
Recent work
From signed shirts to family heirlooms.
Related services
Football shirts, medals and 3D objects.
We have dedicated pages for the most popular types of memorabilia we frame. If you're looking for a specific type of display, start here:
- Football shirt framing — signed, match-worn and retro shirts in deep shadow-box frames.
- Medal framing — military, sporting and commemorative medals with multi-aperture layouts.
- Picture framing — fine art, prints, photographs and anything else that belongs on the wall.
Frequently asked
Memorabilia framing, answered.
Ready to frame what matters?
Send a photo of your item and the rough size. We'll come back the same day with a quote and layout ideas.