Oak or Ash Frame: Which Suits Your Morris Print

The quick difference

The store offers frames in solid oak or solid ash, and both come from responsibly managed forests. That is the whole of what the product information verifies about the two woods. On sourcing and material, the options are equal.

One practical point matters more than the wood itself: the framed poster is the only format that includes a frame. If you would rather supply your own frame, clip or pin board, the unframed prints are made for exactly that, and the framed poster collection is where the oak and ash choice actually applies.

For the wider decision about mounts, sizes and glazing, see a closer look at choosing a framed Morris print, which walks through the frame decision in more detail.

Side-by-side comparison

The table compares the two frame options only on points the product information verifies. Cells for grain, colour, weight and durability are left out because the evidence does not cover them.

What we cannot tell you, and why

Our research found no institutional source comparing oak and ash as frame woods, no recorded comment by William Morris on frame wood choice, and no documented example object identified as framed in oak or in ash. Rather than guess at practical or aesthetic differences, we leave them out.

Museum records do not help here either. According to the Met's record, the museum holds a process print by Sir Edward Burne-Jones titled Adam and Eve (Labour: Whan Adam Delved and Eve Span, Who Was Then the Gentleman?), dated 1895 or later, and it lists a frame measuring 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm). The record gives the frame's dimensions but not its material, so it cannot serve as an oak or ash example.

Choosing by format instead

The verifiable decision is about format, not wood species. The list below sets out what each option includes, so you can match it to how you want to hang the print.

The formats and what comes with them:

• Framed poster: the only product that includes a frame, in your choice of solid oak or solid ash.
• Poster with hangers: comes with two wooden hangers rather than a full frame.
• Canvas: arrives on its own wooden frame.
• Unframed print: printed on thick matte paper with a soft off-white tone, ready for a frame of your own, a clip or a pin board.

If you frame a print yourself, the paper helps it hold up: it has a pH above 7, so it resists yellowing over time. For how each format fits a room, start with buying a Morris poster in the full guide, and check measuring for a print in detail before you commit to a size.

Once the format is settled, Morris gifts make a natural next stop if the print is a present rather than a purchase for your own wall.

How we checked this

Every claim on this page traces to the store's own product information or to a named museum record, in this case the Met's catalogue entry for the Burne-Jones process print. Anything the evidence did not support, such as comparisons of oak and ash grain, weight or durability, was left out rather than filled in. The remaining facts cover the frame materials and sourcing, the formats and their contents, and the paper's pH above 7.