Artwork and Sculpture Shipping Services
BUILT TO KEEP ARTWORK SAFE
Trusted Fine Art and Sculpture Shipping
If you need to ship an oil painting, sculpture, or other fine art, you want to work with a shipping company that knows how to fully protect your valuable assets. We know you have a choice when it comes to selecting a company for packaging and shipping artwork. As you evaluate providers, it is important to keep in mind that many internet-based and retail pack and ship centers don’t have the knowledge or expertise to handle one-of-a-kind items that require special expertise and attention. In fact, many shipping agencies use prefabricated boxes and if your item fits, it ships! This method may work for everyday items, but not for valuable works of art.
We’ve been helping clients get possessions like these safely from their point of origin to their destination for over three decades. That’s why leading art dealers, galleries, and artists rely on Craters & Freighters. We handle and transport fragile, one-of-a-kind pieces with exceptional care.
Art Shipping Services Tailored to Your Item’s Specific Needs
Sculptures and other fine art pieces require expert handling for safe transport. Don’t trust shipping fragile items to just anyone. Call the experts! Choose Craters & Freighters, the company that museums, galleries, and artists rely on, to ship your paintings, sculptures, and other artistic creations safely and economically all over the world. From customized art packaging and crating to shipping and white-glove delivery, our teams protect your valuable assets every step of the way.
Fine Art and Sculpture Insurance Coverage
Craters & Freighters provides expert crating, packaging and shipping services, which allows us to offer insurance coverage on original works of art, sculptures, glass, etc. (for exclusions, see Terms & Conditions). Available cargo insurance coverage for art and shipments includes:
- Full Coverage Cargo – based on declared value
- Limited Liability Insurance – for lost items only
Generally, if a customer elects to purchase our insurance coverage and a value is declared, we insure the item from pickup to delivery.
Trust the Leaders in Art Shipping
Whatever it is you’re looking to transport, we know how to ship it. We have experience handling virtually every type of artwork, including:
- High-value, one-of-a-kind items
- Museum-quality works
- Paintings of all kinds, including encaustic wax pieces
- Sculptures including ceramic and glass, polychrome, stone and plaster, metals
- Ethnographic materials like furniture and wooden objects
- Textiles and fibers such as paper and books, leather, fur
Unmatched Artwork Shipping Capabilities
Our mastery of art shipping ensures that your items will arrive at their destination on schedule and undamaged.
Safe Handling — The shipping of fine art shouldn’t be entrusted to inexperienced shippers. Craters & Freighters’ proven process begins with a thorough assessment that considers factors such as product fragility, size, and value, pickup conditions, mode of transport, environmental variables such as climate, and final destination requirements. Each requirement is factored into the appropriate container and cushioning system for ensuring damage-free shipment.
Flexible Service — We understand that different customers have different needs. Our customer service team will work with you to create a solution that meets your individual needs—from expedited service to extended services such as storage and uncrating. If you need an economical option to ship your items, we can provide the optimal solution from boxes and pallets to crates used for shipping. Tell us your need, and we will make it happen.
Scalable Offerings — No move is too large or too small for Craters & Freighters. We have served clients moving everything from single paintings to entire exhibitions.
In-House Packaging — Most “crating and shipping companies” are actually brokers who outsource the most critical task, the packaging of your items for safe transport, to so-called “agents” or “affiliates.” Craters & Freighters physically performs, and insures, its own packaging from more than 65 locations nationwide, relying on 30+ years of proven crating and packaging methods. When you choose Craters & Freighters, you know exactly who will be handling your items, and you can rest assured that those people are up to the task.
Our Fine Art and Sculpture Shipping Services
Craters & Freighters has been a trusted resource for the safe handling, packaging, shipping, and transporting of fine art, heirlooms, and sculptures for nearly three decades. We’ve cared for every kind of sculpture medium imaginable including bronze, steel, marble, stone, glass, plastic, concrete, and plaster.
- Custom packaging using wraps, foams, and cushioning
- Moisture-barrier bagging to protect items during waterborne export shipping
- Archival packaging materials available
- Double- and tri-wall corrugated containers
- Custom ISPM 15 heat-treated wood crates for international shipping
- Transportation — carrier selection based on item, budget, time frame
- White-glove residential and commercial pickup and delivery – includes unpacking and setup
- Auction item shipping
- Ground, ocean, and air transportation
- Expedited services available
Note: If you are interested in collecting, buying and shipping art, read our post on Art Collecting 101: A Crash Course for Everyday People.
How to Ship a Sculpture or Piece of Artwork
Craters & Freighters is a leading single-source provider of custom packing, crating, and shipping services for art and sculptures. The more information we have regarding your item, the better we can assess its needs and provide the best cushioning, container, and transportation options.
The value, pickup, delivery, insurance requirements, and your budget will determine what type of container is used. In some instances, a custom-made corrugated container will provide sufficient protection, while high-value, antique, or fragile sculptures may require a custom-designed wood crate.
Once you contact Craters & Freighters, we can take care of everything from crating, packaging, insurance, shipping and white glove delivery. Art and sculpture shipping has never been easier when you choose Craters & Freighters as your crating and shipping provider.
When you call one of our 65+ nationwide locations for a quote, you can anticipate the following questions:
- What are the artwork’s dimensions and weight?
- What is the artworks’s medium (canvas, wood, bronze, glass etc.)?
- Is the artwork uniquely fragile or ornate?
- What is the artwork’s value?
- Where is the artwork being picked up?
- What is the artworks’s final destination?
- Where will it be delivered? A residence or business?
- Does the artwork require insurance?
- When does the artwork need to be picked up and delivered?
Get a no-obligation cost estimate.
With over 65 brick-and-mortar locations across the country leveraging the best technology to provide worldwide support and logistics, Craters & Freighters has become a national powerhouse with local accountability.
Tell us about your packaging, crating, and or shipping requirements, and we’ll reply promptly with a figure you can use in your planning.
