Whether hiring a professional company or doing it yourself, all containers with multiple contents should be accompanied by a packing list or pack list. Sometimes this is pouched on the outside of the container, but for maximum safety we like to put a copy inside the package. With crates we often glue them inside the top. With a pack list, the person unpacking knows exactly what to look for within the box. They can check off pieces as they unpack and make sure that all items are accounted for before discarding the package.

In addition, all packages within a box or crate should carry a clear label to distinguish between packed items and incidental packing materials. We often write “art inside!!” on portfolios as well as label them with the artist and title of the contents. A few seconds with a red marker can literally save a small or thinly wrapped artwork from accidental destruction or loss. Your packages should not be mysterious.

And then there are the “non art” components which often accompany shipments. Artists are notorious for this. They will send us a lovely crate with carefully packed and labeled art within, but fail to alert us to look for that little bag of screws, or that wood cleat they tucked up in the northwest corner which they hope we didn’t think was part of the crate, or the little packet of folded mending material that is hugely important to the installation… Once again common sense dictates that anything which needs to be found needs to be findable. And all items including incidentals need to appear on pack lists. Otherwise we may not recognize what is integral and what is not. The folded material in one artist’s crate might be something leftover that they used to fill negative space, or it might be critical to the artwork. We should not have to guess.

At our warehouses, we have a standard rule that all boxes are broken down fully and all accompanying “trash” paper, bubble wrap, or plastic etc. is searched again to make sure no objects are commingled in the packing. With crates, interior foam and loose spacing or lining materials are fully removed so that the crate is inspected right down to the wood before it is marked as empty. Every art handler has a story of the “empty” crate that wasn’t. Packing lists may not entirely solve this problem, but they help. After all the most basic goal of shipping is to have the receiver, not the dumpster, receive what the shipper shipped.

 Betsy Dorfman

We have mentioned previously the wisdom of providing the third dimension (the depth) for each two-dimensional artwork to be handled. But equally important is the issue of accurate dimensions. Having correct sizes is critical to crate pricing, and even moreso if crates are to be prebuilt in advance of actually receiving the artworks.

Very often we are provided with dimensions that are ten inches or more off the mark. You artists know who you are… Whether too high or too low, an estimate based on bad information is of little use to either the customer or the vendor. If the “wrong” dimensions are supplied for multiple works, as in a traveling exhibition, then the mistake just compounds and we all might as well just go out for a beer. After work, of course.

Some estimate requestors likely honestly believe that “close” is good enough or that a matter of inches one way or another won’t have a serious impact on pricing. But the truth is that when we design a crate we round up to the nearest 1/8″ inch in most cases. Or for an estimate, perhaps up to the nearest inch. But leeway of several inches? Never. The whole idea of a shipping crate for an artwork is to be custom built to the size of the work. And, believe it or not, too large is just as bad as too small.

When providing dimensions to an art handler the best approach is to supply each dimension labeled as to its correct orientation. For example: L 50 x W 3 x H 80. So if the artwork in question is a photograph that must travel right-side-up, the crating department will know how it must be crated, and any potential shipping issues due to height will be anticipated before it is time to ship the artwork. Send a photo of the work as well where possible, and of course indicate any condition issues that might require a custom or enhanced crating solution.

Guessing at the order of dimensions can be tricky. Many art shippers use art-world configuration of Height x Length x Width. But here at FAS we use the standard shipping configuration of Length x Width x Height in most of our notations, and we always indicate orientation with the letter designations to avoid confusion.

So give accurate dimensions, indicate the correct orientation, and provide as much information as possible about the artworks to be shipped. You will obtain an accurate estimate, and faster, too, as we won’t have to track you down to get more information.

Finally, if you are guessing at dimensions, confess! That way we may be able to offer you a couple of “what if” quotes and there will be less angst all around when that x- plus- ten -incher comes in the door.

Chris Barber & Betsy Dorfman

Upon being asked some requesters seem surprised that the depth would matter. As if, having gone to the bother of telling us that the medium is fossilized possum teeth and pop rocks embedded in resin, how could the depth possibly be of interest? But typically in the end they indulge us and come up with something, oh all right, if you must know…. I have often wondered why this lapse is so frequent, as it seems so logical that artworks, being things, have three dimensions and take up three dimensions in what we like to call real life.

With paintings in particular however, this dimension seems to disappear from the interest radar. Perhaps it is because the depth, measurement back to front, can and does vary with the framing. But that is equally true of the length and height, to some extent. I think the answer more likely is that trained and museum personnel most often think in terms of image size rather than framed size. (Another question every fine art shipper needs to remember to ask!) Image size is their gold standard and depth is not considered. And this omission can and does persist when inventories are passed on for shipping quotes.

Also the depth is generally the smallest dimension of the three and so can seem insignificant. Emphasis on the “seem.” As shippers, we live and occasionally die by volume. Back in my rookie season I worked up a detailed estimate for a multi crate traveling exhibition of sixty or so artworks. Licking my pencil (metaphorically) and conquering my English major’s fear of spatial relations testing of any kind, I grouped the paintings by size, figured my crate dims and was good to go. Except, I failed to ask re image size versus framed size and, worse , I let the customer get away with giving me an “average depth” of 3 inches per artwork. Long story short, the artworks were framed in the most enormous heavy and ornate gilt frames I have ever seen. These babies each needed their own zip code. Every one was 6-8″ inches overall larger than I had estimated including back to front. The real killer, the budget buster, the oh-my-god-you-have-got-to -be-kidding-me element was the depth.

Things I took away from this experience:

• It helps to own the company, because you can’t be fired
• You can’t be fired, but you can be forced to ‘eat’ unusable crates. (No they never come in handy for something else. But we will get to that in another post)
• Average depth is defined as 5″ more than you could possibly imagine
• Customers are very nice except when ten crates turn into twenty
• Fear of spatial relations testing (which of these two hellish objects fits inside this other completely useless diagram) is a reliable predictor of intelligence
• Image size is for politicians, not art shippers
• All correspondence with estimate requesters should begin with “what is the third dimension” and end with “so help you god.”

Betsy Dorfman / Fine Art Shipping