Journal · Guides

How is a crate built for shipping a painting internationally?

A crate built for international art shipment is a custom wooden box, not a generic packing case: a rigid outer shell of ISPM-15 heat-treated timber (required to cross most borders), an inner layer of cut foam padding that holds the piece without letting it shift, and often an internal frame or bracing system sized to that specific work. A T-frame — a lighter, open timber frame — is the art-industry standard for a single painting moving locally between galleries or into storage, but it is not built for international freight and carriers generally will not accept it for that leg of the journey.

Amber Strata (150 x 100 cm), in situ / em ambiente. Alyne Perfeito, Perfeito Studio.

The outer shell: why the wood itself has to be certified

Almost every wood crate crossing an international border is built from timber that has already been through a specific treatment: heat treatment to a minimum core temperature, stamped and verified before assembly begins. This is not a shipping company's house standard — it is a plant-health regulation, ISPM 15, adopted under the International Plant Protection Convention specifically to stop wood-boring pests from travelling inside packaging material between countries. One detail changes what actually needs the stamp: plywood and other wood processed enough to be free of pests is explicitly outside the scope of the standard, so a crate's plywood panels are not what carries the certification — the solid, raw-wood components (battens, skids, internal bracing) are.

The mark itself is standardized: the IPPC's wheat-sheaf symbol, a two-letter country code, a producer/facility number, and a treatment code — typically HT for heat treatment, applied at 56°C for at least 30 minutes. It has to appear on at least two opposite sides of the wood packaging, stamped directly and permanently rather than printed on a label that can be covered or peeled off.

What happens if that stamp is missing or damaged

Customs and phytosanitary inspectors at the destination treat a missing mark the same way they treat untreated wood: the crate is deemed non-compliant, whether or not the timber was actually heat-treated. A stamp that has been smeared, faded, painted over, or overprinted by a shipping label is read as no stamp at all. The consequences run from costly to severe — quarantine and mandatory retreatment at the shipper's expense, re-export of the crate back to its country of origin, or destruction of the wood packaging on the spot. None of that touches the customs value or duty owed on the artwork itself; it is purely about the box the painting travelled in.

The inside of the crate: foam, bracing, and fitting the piece

Certified timber only solves the border-crossing problem. What keeps the canvas from moving, flexing, or taking an impact during loading, a truck ride, and a flight is everything built inside the shell. Fine-art crate builders line the interior with cut foam — commonly a soft ether foam in the 25 mm range against the surface, sometimes paired with a rigid foam or corrugated slipcase around that — so the piece is cushioned on every face rather than resting against bare wood. Plywood panelling for the crate walls themselves is typically specified in a few thicknesses (6 mm, 9 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm) depending on the size and weight of what is going inside, and for an irregular or fragile object, a builder will cut a foam recess or a custom internal frame that follows its exact shape rather than packing loose material around it.

For a large, heavily textured canvas — the kind of horizontal, layered surface that catches light differently depending on the angle — the crate has to keep the front face away from any contact point entirely, usually with corner blocks or a floating inner frame so nothing presses on the paint surface itself, only on the stretcher bars or frame edge.

Crate vs. T-frame vs. rolled canvas: which one applies

These are three different answers to three different logistics problems, not interchangeable options. A T-frame is the lighter, faster solution for a single painting moving locally — between a gallery and a client's home for a viewing, or into short-term storage — built from the same treated timber but with minimal reinforcement, and it is not designed to survive freight handling or air cargo. A full crate is what a piece needs for genuine international freight: the certified shell plus internal padding described above, sized and built around one specific artwork. Rolling — taking an unstretched canvas off its bars, rolling it around a rigid tube, and re-stretching it on arrival — is a separate method some studios and shippers use for large canvases where a full crate would be impractical or disproportionately expensive to ship; which of the two applies depends on the piece's size, its surface (heavy texture and impasto travel worse rolled than a thin, flat layer of paint), and the destination, and it is a decision made case by case, not a default.

From the studio

The view from the studio

Every piece I paint is on canvas, with real surface texture and layering — the same physical qualities that make packing a decision for me, not a formality. I include professional packing in the price of the piece, and I quote international shipments per destination once we've confirmed a piece and a country, rather than naming a fixed number that would stop being accurate the moment a courier's rates or a country's customs rules change. The buyer covers the freight cost itself, along with any import duties or taxes the destination country applies — that split is the norm for direct-from-studio purchases generally, not a policy unique to my catalog. For a specific piece, method, and cost, that's a conversation I'd rather have directly with you before you commit, not a number to assume in advance.

Frequently asked

How is a crate built for shipping a painting internationally?

It is built as a rigid wooden box using ISPM-15 heat-treated timber (a border-crossing requirement in most countries), lined on the inside with cut foam padding and, for larger or heavily textured pieces, an internal frame or bracing sized to that specific artwork so nothing presses against the painted surface during transit.

What should a foreign buyer know before acting on this?

That the crate itself, not just the artwork, has to clear customs on its own terms: the wood packaging needs a valid, undamaged ISPM-15 stamp on at least two sides, or inspectors can hold, retreat, or destroy the crate regardless of the value or condition of the piece inside it. Freight cost and any import duties are normally the buyer's responsibility, separate from the artwork's price.

Does this differ for a US buyer vs a European buyer?

The ISPM-15 wood-treatment requirement itself is close to universal, since it comes from an international plant-health convention rather than any one country's customs code — but the import duties, taxes, and de minimis thresholds applied to the artwork are set independently by each destination country and do change, so a US and a European buyer should each check with their own customs authority or broker rather than assume the same rate applies.

Who handles this in practice — the artist, a shipper, or the buyer?

Packing is typically arranged by the studio or artist selling the piece, sometimes in coordination with a specialized fine-art shipper for the crate build itself; the buyer's role is usually limited to confirming the destination address and covering freight and any customs charges once the piece is packed and quoted.

What could go wrong if this step is skipped?

Skipping proper crating on a large, textured canvas risks the surface flexing, cracking, or taking impact damage in transit with no recourse once it has shipped; skipping ISPM-15 compliant wood risks the crate itself being held, retreated at the shipper's expense, or destroyed at customs, independent of how well the painting inside was protected.

Considering a piece for a home or office outside Brazil?

Alyne replies personally, in English or Portuguese, with details on packing, timeline, and a shipping estimate for your destination.

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