Overview
Description
Specifications
Delivery & Returns
FAQs
Knowledge Hub
A Vintage Ticket Collage With Text Printed on the Glass
A mixed-media piece by Karen Reavill, built from bus ticket designs of the 1930s to 1950s and set inside a deep angled shadow box: the artwork for a wall that could do with something to talk about. No decorative print that gives everything up at a glance. No strong colour, since the palette comes from aged paper and period ink. What makes this piece unusual is that it works on two planes. The tickets sit at the back, some of them raised clear of the others so the collage has genuine depth, and the words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glass in front, so the text floats above the artwork rather than sitting in it. 840mm tall in a white frame, on D-ring fixings. Works in hallways, snugs, kitchens and studies equally.
What the Shadow Box and Glass Do
- Text printed on the glazing: The lettering is silkscreened onto the glass itself, so it sits in front of the collage with real space behind it rather than being part of the image.
- A deep angled shadow box: 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what gives the piece its recess and its shadow line.
- Tickets raised off the ground: Selected pieces stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief rather than printed texture.
- White and gold foil: The foil catches light where the white does not, so the lettering shifts as you move past and lifts under a lamp.
- Period ticket design: Type, colour and layout taken from three decades of transport printing, which is where the muted palette and the detail come from.
- 6.45 kg on D-rings: Glazed and deep, so heavier than a print of the same size and hung from two fixed points.
Pairing the Artwork in the Room
Gold foil is worth answering somewhere else in the room: the round gold wall mirror repeats the warm metal in a plain slim circle, so a busy rectangular collage and a quiet round shape balance each other while the gold thread ties them together. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy, and the piece sits comfortably alongside aged brass, worn leather and dark timber. For rooms where one characterful piece does the talking and the rest stays quiet, our home bar and drinks cabinet guide covers how a room built for company is put together.
The Text Sits on the Glass, Not on the Artwork
Almost everything hung on a wall is a single flat plane behind a sheet of glass, and the glass is there to be looked through rather than looked at. This piece uses it. The words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glazing, so the lettering sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it, rather than being printed into the image like a caption. Move your head and the text shifts against the tickets underneath. Put a lamp on and the foil lifts while the paper beneath stays matt. It is a small piece of construction that changes how the whole thing behaves on a wall.
Behind the glass, the depth continues. Karen Reavill arranges bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s across the ground, with selected pieces raised clear of the layer beneath so the collage has real relief rather than the printed suggestion of it, and the angled shadow box frame gives all of it 60mm to sit within. The palette is not a styling choice so much as a consequence: aged paper, period inks and three decades of transport printing produce those particular ochres, greens and faded reds, and they have muted together in a way no one would think to design deliberately.
840 mm tall, 640 mm wide, 60 mm deep, 6.45 kg, glazed and set in a white frame on D-ring fixings. The white is doing a job: a busy, warm-toned collage needs a surround that stops rather than joins in, and a timber or dark moulding would have added a fourth layer to something already working on three. For a warm metallic circle to answer the gold foil elsewhere in the room, the Simplistic Round Wall Mirror in Gold keeps the tone in a plain slim frame.
What the Collage and Frame Bring to a Wall
- Lettering on the glazing. Silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass itself, so the text floats in front of the collage with space behind it.
- Genuine relief in the collage. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, giving the piece physical depth rather than printed texture.
- A deep angled shadow box. 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what allows the layers to sit apart from one another.
- Foil that catches light. The gold lifts under a lamp or a low sun while the white and the paper beneath stay matt.
- A palette from aged paper. Ochres, faded reds and soft greens, produced by period inks and time rather than chosen from a chart.
- A white frame. A surround that stops the eye rather than joining in, on a piece already working across three layers.
Why Old Ticket Design Still Looks Good
Transport tickets were designed under real constraints. They had to be printed fast and cheap, read instantly in poor light, and be distinguishable from one another at a glance by a conductor holding a dozen of them, which produced strong type, high-contrast colour coding and layouts with nothing spare in them. Nobody was styling anything. That is exactly why the results have lasted: this is functional printing from a period when function was the only brief, and it holds up on a wall now for the same reason good signage does. Standing close, the interest is in the small stuff, the fare stages, the printers' marks, the type that changed decade by decade. From across a room it simply reads as warm, layered paper.
Where to Put It and What It Will Do to the Room
In a hallway or on a landing, where people pass close enough to read the detail. In a snug or a study, on a wall you sit near rather than across from. In a kitchen or a boot room, where a piece with character suits a room in constant use. Above a desk, at exactly the distance the small print rewards. In a downstairs cloakroom, which is the traditional home for artwork worth examining. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy.
The Practical Details Before You Buy
- Fixings rated for 6.45 kg. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size. The piece hangs on D-rings and needs two fixings: wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a stud fixing on plasterboard.
- Hang it where it will be read. The detail is the point, so this belongs on a wall people stand near rather than one viewed from the far side of a room.
- Side light rather than a window opposite. The glazing carries printed lettering, so a window directly in front will throw reflections across the text as well as the collage. Light arriving from the side avoids that and shows the foil better.
- Clean the glass carefully. The lettering is printed onto the glazing, so avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Delivery
| Service | Timescale | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3-5 working days | Free |
| Next working day | Order before 4pm | £5.95 |
UK mainland only. Orders placed on weekends or bank holidays are dispatched the next working day.
We are unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Isles, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, or the Isles of Scilly. Full delivery information.
Returns
28-day returns policy. Contact us within 28 days of receipt if you are not happy with your order.
Items must be returned unused and in their original packaging. Our UK-based team will guide you through the process. Full returns information.
FAQs: Vintage Ticket Shadow Box Artwork.
The WA919 is a mixed-media collage of bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s, arranged inside a deep angled shadow box frame. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, and the phrase Ticket to Ride is silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass in front.
On the glass. The text on the WA919 is silkscreened directly onto the glazing, so it sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it rather than being part of the image. Move your head and the lettering shifts against the tickets underneath, which a printed caption could never do.
It creates the depth. The frame on the WA919 angles inward across 60mm, which is what allows the collage, the raised tickets and the printed glass to occupy separate planes rather than sitting flat against one another. A standard shallow frame would flatten all three into one.
Yes. Selected pieces in the WA919 stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief and casts its own small shadows, rather than relying on printed shading to suggest texture.
The WA919 is by Karen Reavill. The piece uses ticket designs drawn from three decades of transport printing, keeping the type, colour coding and layouts of the originals rather than reinterpreting them.
Muted ochres, faded reds and soft greens, with white and gold in the lettering. The palette of the WA919 comes from period inks and aged paper rather than a colour choice, which is why the piece reads as warm and layered without any strong colour in it.
Somewhere people stand close. The detail in the WA919 is the point, so a hallway, a landing, a study wall or a downstairs cloakroom suits it far better than a position viewed from across a room. Side light is better than a window directly opposite, since the printed glazing will otherwise carry reflections across the text.
Fixings rated for 6.45 kg at two points, since the piece hangs on D-rings. Use wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a fixing into a stud on plasterboard. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size, so a picture hook is not adequate.
Very carefully. Because the lettering on the WA919 is printed onto the glazing rather than sitting behind it, avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Dimensions: 840 mm (H) x 640 mm (W) x 60 mm (D). Artist: Karen Reavill. Construction: deep angled shadow box with raised collage elements. Glazing: plain glass with silkscreened white and gold foil lettering. Frame colour: white. Materials: MDF, glass, paper. Hanging orientation: portrait. Fixing: D-ring. Weight: 6.45 kg.
Artwork Worth Standing Close To
Hang it where people pause: a hallway, a landing, beside a desk, or a cloakroom wall. Keep it out of the light thrown by a window directly opposite, since printed glazing shows reflections more than plain glass does, and let a lamp off to one side pick up the foil instead. For rooms built around character pieces and considered detail:
Overview
A Vintage Ticket Collage With Text Printed on the Glass
A mixed-media piece by Karen Reavill, built from bus ticket designs of the 1930s to 1950s and set inside a deep angled shadow box: the artwork for a wall that could do with something to talk about. No decorative print that gives everything up at a glance. No strong colour, since the palette comes from aged paper and period ink. What makes this piece unusual is that it works on two planes. The tickets sit at the back, some of them raised clear of the others so the collage has genuine depth, and the words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glass in front, so the text floats above the artwork rather than sitting in it. 840mm tall in a white frame, on D-ring fixings. Works in hallways, snugs, kitchens and studies equally.
What the Shadow Box and Glass Do
- Text printed on the glazing: The lettering is silkscreened onto the glass itself, so it sits in front of the collage with real space behind it rather than being part of the image.
- A deep angled shadow box: 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what gives the piece its recess and its shadow line.
- Tickets raised off the ground: Selected pieces stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief rather than printed texture.
- White and gold foil: The foil catches light where the white does not, so the lettering shifts as you move past and lifts under a lamp.
- Period ticket design: Type, colour and layout taken from three decades of transport printing, which is where the muted palette and the detail come from.
- 6.45 kg on D-rings: Glazed and deep, so heavier than a print of the same size and hung from two fixed points.
Pairing the Artwork in the Room
Gold foil is worth answering somewhere else in the room: the round gold wall mirror repeats the warm metal in a plain slim circle, so a busy rectangular collage and a quiet round shape balance each other while the gold thread ties them together. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy, and the piece sits comfortably alongside aged brass, worn leather and dark timber. For rooms where one characterful piece does the talking and the rest stays quiet, our home bar and drinks cabinet guide covers how a room built for company is put together.
Description
The Text Sits on the Glass, Not on the Artwork
Almost everything hung on a wall is a single flat plane behind a sheet of glass, and the glass is there to be looked through rather than looked at. This piece uses it. The words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glazing, so the lettering sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it, rather than being printed into the image like a caption. Move your head and the text shifts against the tickets underneath. Put a lamp on and the foil lifts while the paper beneath stays matt. It is a small piece of construction that changes how the whole thing behaves on a wall.
Behind the glass, the depth continues. Karen Reavill arranges bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s across the ground, with selected pieces raised clear of the layer beneath so the collage has real relief rather than the printed suggestion of it, and the angled shadow box frame gives all of it 60mm to sit within. The palette is not a styling choice so much as a consequence: aged paper, period inks and three decades of transport printing produce those particular ochres, greens and faded reds, and they have muted together in a way no one would think to design deliberately.
840 mm tall, 640 mm wide, 60 mm deep, 6.45 kg, glazed and set in a white frame on D-ring fixings. The white is doing a job: a busy, warm-toned collage needs a surround that stops rather than joins in, and a timber or dark moulding would have added a fourth layer to something already working on three. For a warm metallic circle to answer the gold foil elsewhere in the room, the Simplistic Round Wall Mirror in Gold keeps the tone in a plain slim frame.
What the Collage and Frame Bring to a Wall
- Lettering on the glazing. Silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass itself, so the text floats in front of the collage with space behind it.
- Genuine relief in the collage. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, giving the piece physical depth rather than printed texture.
- A deep angled shadow box. 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what allows the layers to sit apart from one another.
- Foil that catches light. The gold lifts under a lamp or a low sun while the white and the paper beneath stay matt.
- A palette from aged paper. Ochres, faded reds and soft greens, produced by period inks and time rather than chosen from a chart.
- A white frame. A surround that stops the eye rather than joining in, on a piece already working across three layers.
Why Old Ticket Design Still Looks Good
Transport tickets were designed under real constraints. They had to be printed fast and cheap, read instantly in poor light, and be distinguishable from one another at a glance by a conductor holding a dozen of them, which produced strong type, high-contrast colour coding and layouts with nothing spare in them. Nobody was styling anything. That is exactly why the results have lasted: this is functional printing from a period when function was the only brief, and it holds up on a wall now for the same reason good signage does. Standing close, the interest is in the small stuff, the fare stages, the printers' marks, the type that changed decade by decade. From across a room it simply reads as warm, layered paper.
Where to Put It and What It Will Do to the Room
In a hallway or on a landing, where people pass close enough to read the detail. In a snug or a study, on a wall you sit near rather than across from. In a kitchen or a boot room, where a piece with character suits a room in constant use. Above a desk, at exactly the distance the small print rewards. In a downstairs cloakroom, which is the traditional home for artwork worth examining. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy.
The Practical Details Before You Buy
- Fixings rated for 6.45 kg. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size. The piece hangs on D-rings and needs two fixings: wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a stud fixing on plasterboard.
- Hang it where it will be read. The detail is the point, so this belongs on a wall people stand near rather than one viewed from the far side of a room.
- Side light rather than a window opposite. The glazing carries printed lettering, so a window directly in front will throw reflections across the text as well as the collage. Light arriving from the side avoids that and shows the foil better.
- Clean the glass carefully. The lettering is printed onto the glazing, so avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Specifications
Delivery & Returns
Delivery
| Service | Timescale | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3-5 working days | Free |
| Next working day | Order before 4pm | £5.95 |
UK mainland only. Orders placed on weekends or bank holidays are dispatched the next working day.
We are unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Isles, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, or the Isles of Scilly. Full delivery information.
Returns
28-day returns policy. Contact us within 28 days of receipt if you are not happy with your order.
Items must be returned unused and in their original packaging. Our UK-based team will guide you through the process. Full returns information.
FAQs
FAQs: Vintage Ticket Shadow Box Artwork.
The WA919 is a mixed-media collage of bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s, arranged inside a deep angled shadow box frame. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, and the phrase Ticket to Ride is silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass in front.
On the glass. The text on the WA919 is silkscreened directly onto the glazing, so it sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it rather than being part of the image. Move your head and the lettering shifts against the tickets underneath, which a printed caption could never do.
It creates the depth. The frame on the WA919 angles inward across 60mm, which is what allows the collage, the raised tickets and the printed glass to occupy separate planes rather than sitting flat against one another. A standard shallow frame would flatten all three into one.
Yes. Selected pieces in the WA919 stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief and casts its own small shadows, rather than relying on printed shading to suggest texture.
The WA919 is by Karen Reavill. The piece uses ticket designs drawn from three decades of transport printing, keeping the type, colour coding and layouts of the originals rather than reinterpreting them.
Muted ochres, faded reds and soft greens, with white and gold in the lettering. The palette of the WA919 comes from period inks and aged paper rather than a colour choice, which is why the piece reads as warm and layered without any strong colour in it.
Somewhere people stand close. The detail in the WA919 is the point, so a hallway, a landing, a study wall or a downstairs cloakroom suits it far better than a position viewed from across a room. Side light is better than a window directly opposite, since the printed glazing will otherwise carry reflections across the text.
Fixings rated for 6.45 kg at two points, since the piece hangs on D-rings. Use wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a fixing into a stud on plasterboard. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size, so a picture hook is not adequate.
Very carefully. Because the lettering on the WA919 is printed onto the glazing rather than sitting behind it, avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Dimensions: 840 mm (H) x 640 mm (W) x 60 mm (D). Artist: Karen Reavill. Construction: deep angled shadow box with raised collage elements. Glazing: plain glass with silkscreened white and gold foil lettering. Frame colour: white. Materials: MDF, glass, paper. Hanging orientation: portrait. Fixing: D-ring. Weight: 6.45 kg.
Knowledge Hub
Artwork Worth Standing Close To
Hang it where people pause: a hallway, a landing, beside a desk, or a cloakroom wall. Keep it out of the light thrown by a window directly opposite, since printed glazing shows reflections more than plain glass does, and let a lamp off to one side pick up the foil instead. For rooms built around character pieces and considered detail:
Ticket To Ride Vintage Travel Wall Art
Overview
Description
Specifications
Delivery & Returns
FAQs
Knowledge Hub
A Vintage Ticket Collage With Text Printed on the Glass
A mixed-media piece by Karen Reavill, built from bus ticket designs of the 1930s to 1950s and set inside a deep angled shadow box: the artwork for a wall that could do with something to talk about. No decorative print that gives everything up at a glance. No strong colour, since the palette comes from aged paper and period ink. What makes this piece unusual is that it works on two planes. The tickets sit at the back, some of them raised clear of the others so the collage has genuine depth, and the words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glass in front, so the text floats above the artwork rather than sitting in it. 840mm tall in a white frame, on D-ring fixings. Works in hallways, snugs, kitchens and studies equally.
What the Shadow Box and Glass Do
- Text printed on the glazing: The lettering is silkscreened onto the glass itself, so it sits in front of the collage with real space behind it rather than being part of the image.
- A deep angled shadow box: 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what gives the piece its recess and its shadow line.
- Tickets raised off the ground: Selected pieces stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief rather than printed texture.
- White and gold foil: The foil catches light where the white does not, so the lettering shifts as you move past and lifts under a lamp.
- Period ticket design: Type, colour and layout taken from three decades of transport printing, which is where the muted palette and the detail come from.
- 6.45 kg on D-rings: Glazed and deep, so heavier than a print of the same size and hung from two fixed points.
Pairing the Artwork in the Room
Gold foil is worth answering somewhere else in the room: the round gold wall mirror repeats the warm metal in a plain slim circle, so a busy rectangular collage and a quiet round shape balance each other while the gold thread ties them together. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy, and the piece sits comfortably alongside aged brass, worn leather and dark timber. For rooms where one characterful piece does the talking and the rest stays quiet, our home bar and drinks cabinet guide covers how a room built for company is put together.
The Text Sits on the Glass, Not on the Artwork
Almost everything hung on a wall is a single flat plane behind a sheet of glass, and the glass is there to be looked through rather than looked at. This piece uses it. The words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glazing, so the lettering sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it, rather than being printed into the image like a caption. Move your head and the text shifts against the tickets underneath. Put a lamp on and the foil lifts while the paper beneath stays matt. It is a small piece of construction that changes how the whole thing behaves on a wall.
Behind the glass, the depth continues. Karen Reavill arranges bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s across the ground, with selected pieces raised clear of the layer beneath so the collage has real relief rather than the printed suggestion of it, and the angled shadow box frame gives all of it 60mm to sit within. The palette is not a styling choice so much as a consequence: aged paper, period inks and three decades of transport printing produce those particular ochres, greens and faded reds, and they have muted together in a way no one would think to design deliberately.
840 mm tall, 640 mm wide, 60 mm deep, 6.45 kg, glazed and set in a white frame on D-ring fixings. The white is doing a job: a busy, warm-toned collage needs a surround that stops rather than joins in, and a timber or dark moulding would have added a fourth layer to something already working on three. For a warm metallic circle to answer the gold foil elsewhere in the room, the Simplistic Round Wall Mirror in Gold keeps the tone in a plain slim frame.
What the Collage and Frame Bring to a Wall
- Lettering on the glazing. Silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass itself, so the text floats in front of the collage with space behind it.
- Genuine relief in the collage. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, giving the piece physical depth rather than printed texture.
- A deep angled shadow box. 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what allows the layers to sit apart from one another.
- Foil that catches light. The gold lifts under a lamp or a low sun while the white and the paper beneath stay matt.
- A palette from aged paper. Ochres, faded reds and soft greens, produced by period inks and time rather than chosen from a chart.
- A white frame. A surround that stops the eye rather than joining in, on a piece already working across three layers.
Why Old Ticket Design Still Looks Good
Transport tickets were designed under real constraints. They had to be printed fast and cheap, read instantly in poor light, and be distinguishable from one another at a glance by a conductor holding a dozen of them, which produced strong type, high-contrast colour coding and layouts with nothing spare in them. Nobody was styling anything. That is exactly why the results have lasted: this is functional printing from a period when function was the only brief, and it holds up on a wall now for the same reason good signage does. Standing close, the interest is in the small stuff, the fare stages, the printers' marks, the type that changed decade by decade. From across a room it simply reads as warm, layered paper.
Where to Put It and What It Will Do to the Room
In a hallway or on a landing, where people pass close enough to read the detail. In a snug or a study, on a wall you sit near rather than across from. In a kitchen or a boot room, where a piece with character suits a room in constant use. Above a desk, at exactly the distance the small print rewards. In a downstairs cloakroom, which is the traditional home for artwork worth examining. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy.
The Practical Details Before You Buy
- Fixings rated for 6.45 kg. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size. The piece hangs on D-rings and needs two fixings: wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a stud fixing on plasterboard.
- Hang it where it will be read. The detail is the point, so this belongs on a wall people stand near rather than one viewed from the far side of a room.
- Side light rather than a window opposite. The glazing carries printed lettering, so a window directly in front will throw reflections across the text as well as the collage. Light arriving from the side avoids that and shows the foil better.
- Clean the glass carefully. The lettering is printed onto the glazing, so avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Delivery
| Service | Timescale | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3-5 working days | Free |
| Next working day | Order before 4pm | £5.95 |
UK mainland only. Orders placed on weekends or bank holidays are dispatched the next working day.
We are unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Isles, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, or the Isles of Scilly. Full delivery information.
Returns
28-day returns policy. Contact us within 28 days of receipt if you are not happy with your order.
Items must be returned unused and in their original packaging. Our UK-based team will guide you through the process. Full returns information.
FAQs: Vintage Ticket Shadow Box Artwork.
The WA919 is a mixed-media collage of bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s, arranged inside a deep angled shadow box frame. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, and the phrase Ticket to Ride is silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass in front.
On the glass. The text on the WA919 is silkscreened directly onto the glazing, so it sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it rather than being part of the image. Move your head and the lettering shifts against the tickets underneath, which a printed caption could never do.
It creates the depth. The frame on the WA919 angles inward across 60mm, which is what allows the collage, the raised tickets and the printed glass to occupy separate planes rather than sitting flat against one another. A standard shallow frame would flatten all three into one.
Yes. Selected pieces in the WA919 stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief and casts its own small shadows, rather than relying on printed shading to suggest texture.
The WA919 is by Karen Reavill. The piece uses ticket designs drawn from three decades of transport printing, keeping the type, colour coding and layouts of the originals rather than reinterpreting them.
Muted ochres, faded reds and soft greens, with white and gold in the lettering. The palette of the WA919 comes from period inks and aged paper rather than a colour choice, which is why the piece reads as warm and layered without any strong colour in it.
Somewhere people stand close. The detail in the WA919 is the point, so a hallway, a landing, a study wall or a downstairs cloakroom suits it far better than a position viewed from across a room. Side light is better than a window directly opposite, since the printed glazing will otherwise carry reflections across the text.
Fixings rated for 6.45 kg at two points, since the piece hangs on D-rings. Use wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a fixing into a stud on plasterboard. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size, so a picture hook is not adequate.
Very carefully. Because the lettering on the WA919 is printed onto the glazing rather than sitting behind it, avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Dimensions: 840 mm (H) x 640 mm (W) x 60 mm (D). Artist: Karen Reavill. Construction: deep angled shadow box with raised collage elements. Glazing: plain glass with silkscreened white and gold foil lettering. Frame colour: white. Materials: MDF, glass, paper. Hanging orientation: portrait. Fixing: D-ring. Weight: 6.45 kg.
Artwork Worth Standing Close To
Hang it where people pause: a hallway, a landing, beside a desk, or a cloakroom wall. Keep it out of the light thrown by a window directly opposite, since printed glazing shows reflections more than plain glass does, and let a lamp off to one side pick up the foil instead. For rooms built around character pieces and considered detail:
Overview
A Vintage Ticket Collage With Text Printed on the Glass
A mixed-media piece by Karen Reavill, built from bus ticket designs of the 1930s to 1950s and set inside a deep angled shadow box: the artwork for a wall that could do with something to talk about. No decorative print that gives everything up at a glance. No strong colour, since the palette comes from aged paper and period ink. What makes this piece unusual is that it works on two planes. The tickets sit at the back, some of them raised clear of the others so the collage has genuine depth, and the words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glass in front, so the text floats above the artwork rather than sitting in it. 840mm tall in a white frame, on D-ring fixings. Works in hallways, snugs, kitchens and studies equally.
What the Shadow Box and Glass Do
- Text printed on the glazing: The lettering is silkscreened onto the glass itself, so it sits in front of the collage with real space behind it rather than being part of the image.
- A deep angled shadow box: 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what gives the piece its recess and its shadow line.
- Tickets raised off the ground: Selected pieces stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief rather than printed texture.
- White and gold foil: The foil catches light where the white does not, so the lettering shifts as you move past and lifts under a lamp.
- Period ticket design: Type, colour and layout taken from three decades of transport printing, which is where the muted palette and the detail come from.
- 6.45 kg on D-rings: Glazed and deep, so heavier than a print of the same size and hung from two fixed points.
Pairing the Artwork in the Room
Gold foil is worth answering somewhere else in the room: the round gold wall mirror repeats the warm metal in a plain slim circle, so a busy rectangular collage and a quiet round shape balance each other while the gold thread ties them together. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy, and the piece sits comfortably alongside aged brass, worn leather and dark timber. For rooms where one characterful piece does the talking and the rest stays quiet, our home bar and drinks cabinet guide covers how a room built for company is put together.
Description
The Text Sits on the Glass, Not on the Artwork
Almost everything hung on a wall is a single flat plane behind a sheet of glass, and the glass is there to be looked through rather than looked at. This piece uses it. The words Ticket to Ride are silkscreened in white and gold foil directly onto the glazing, so the lettering sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it, rather than being printed into the image like a caption. Move your head and the text shifts against the tickets underneath. Put a lamp on and the foil lifts while the paper beneath stays matt. It is a small piece of construction that changes how the whole thing behaves on a wall.
Behind the glass, the depth continues. Karen Reavill arranges bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s across the ground, with selected pieces raised clear of the layer beneath so the collage has real relief rather than the printed suggestion of it, and the angled shadow box frame gives all of it 60mm to sit within. The palette is not a styling choice so much as a consequence: aged paper, period inks and three decades of transport printing produce those particular ochres, greens and faded reds, and they have muted together in a way no one would think to design deliberately.
840 mm tall, 640 mm wide, 60 mm deep, 6.45 kg, glazed and set in a white frame on D-ring fixings. The white is doing a job: a busy, warm-toned collage needs a surround that stops rather than joins in, and a timber or dark moulding would have added a fourth layer to something already working on three. For a warm metallic circle to answer the gold foil elsewhere in the room, the Simplistic Round Wall Mirror in Gold keeps the tone in a plain slim frame.
What the Collage and Frame Bring to a Wall
- Lettering on the glazing. Silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass itself, so the text floats in front of the collage with space behind it.
- Genuine relief in the collage. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, giving the piece physical depth rather than printed texture.
- A deep angled shadow box. 60mm of depth with the frame angling inward, which is what allows the layers to sit apart from one another.
- Foil that catches light. The gold lifts under a lamp or a low sun while the white and the paper beneath stay matt.
- A palette from aged paper. Ochres, faded reds and soft greens, produced by period inks and time rather than chosen from a chart.
- A white frame. A surround that stops the eye rather than joining in, on a piece already working across three layers.
Why Old Ticket Design Still Looks Good
Transport tickets were designed under real constraints. They had to be printed fast and cheap, read instantly in poor light, and be distinguishable from one another at a glance by a conductor holding a dozen of them, which produced strong type, high-contrast colour coding and layouts with nothing spare in them. Nobody was styling anything. That is exactly why the results have lasted: this is functional printing from a period when function was the only brief, and it holds up on a wall now for the same reason good signage does. Standing close, the interest is in the small stuff, the fare stages, the printers' marks, the type that changed decade by decade. From across a room it simply reads as warm, layered paper.
Where to Put It and What It Will Do to the Room
In a hallway or on a landing, where people pass close enough to read the detail. In a snug or a study, on a wall you sit near rather than across from. In a kitchen or a boot room, where a piece with character suits a room in constant use. Above a desk, at exactly the distance the small print rewards. In a downstairs cloakroom, which is the traditional home for artwork worth examining. The muted paper tones work against white, chalk, greige, warm grey and deeper green or navy.
The Practical Details Before You Buy
- Fixings rated for 6.45 kg. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size. The piece hangs on D-rings and needs two fixings: wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a stud fixing on plasterboard.
- Hang it where it will be read. The detail is the point, so this belongs on a wall people stand near rather than one viewed from the far side of a room.
- Side light rather than a window opposite. The glazing carries printed lettering, so a window directly in front will throw reflections across the text as well as the collage. Light arriving from the side avoids that and shows the foil better.
- Clean the glass carefully. The lettering is printed onto the glazing, so avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Specifications
Delivery & Returns
Delivery
| Service | Timescale | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3-5 working days | Free |
| Next working day | Order before 4pm | £5.95 |
UK mainland only. Orders placed on weekends or bank holidays are dispatched the next working day.
We are unable to deliver to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Isles, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Man, or the Isles of Scilly. Full delivery information.
Returns
28-day returns policy. Contact us within 28 days of receipt if you are not happy with your order.
Items must be returned unused and in their original packaging. Our UK-based team will guide you through the process. Full returns information.
FAQs
FAQs: Vintage Ticket Shadow Box Artwork.
The WA919 is a mixed-media collage of bus ticket designs from the 1930s to the 1950s, arranged inside a deep angled shadow box frame. Selected tickets are raised clear of the layer beneath, and the phrase Ticket to Ride is silkscreened in white and gold foil onto the glass in front.
On the glass. The text on the WA919 is silkscreened directly onto the glazing, so it sits in front of the collage with genuine space behind it rather than being part of the image. Move your head and the lettering shifts against the tickets underneath, which a printed caption could never do.
It creates the depth. The frame on the WA919 angles inward across 60mm, which is what allows the collage, the raised tickets and the printed glass to occupy separate planes rather than sitting flat against one another. A standard shallow frame would flatten all three into one.
Yes. Selected pieces in the WA919 stand clear of the layer beneath, so the collage has physical relief and casts its own small shadows, rather than relying on printed shading to suggest texture.
The WA919 is by Karen Reavill. The piece uses ticket designs drawn from three decades of transport printing, keeping the type, colour coding and layouts of the originals rather than reinterpreting them.
Muted ochres, faded reds and soft greens, with white and gold in the lettering. The palette of the WA919 comes from period inks and aged paper rather than a colour choice, which is why the piece reads as warm and layered without any strong colour in it.
Somewhere people stand close. The detail in the WA919 is the point, so a hallway, a landing, a study wall or a downstairs cloakroom suits it far better than a position viewed from across a room. Side light is better than a window directly opposite, since the printed glazing will otherwise carry reflections across the text.
Fixings rated for 6.45 kg at two points, since the piece hangs on D-rings. Use wall plugs and suitable screws into masonry, or hollow-wall anchors or a fixing into a stud on plasterboard. A glazed shadow box is heavier than a print of the same size, so a picture hook is not adequate.
Very carefully. Because the lettering on the WA919 is printed onto the glazing rather than sitting behind it, avoid solvent cleaners and abrasive cloths entirely. Wipe gently with a soft cloth dampened away from the piece, and never spray anything directly at the glass.
Dimensions: 840 mm (H) x 640 mm (W) x 60 mm (D). Artist: Karen Reavill. Construction: deep angled shadow box with raised collage elements. Glazing: plain glass with silkscreened white and gold foil lettering. Frame colour: white. Materials: MDF, glass, paper. Hanging orientation: portrait. Fixing: D-ring. Weight: 6.45 kg.
Knowledge Hub
Artwork Worth Standing Close To
Hang it where people pause: a hallway, a landing, beside a desk, or a cloakroom wall. Keep it out of the light thrown by a window directly opposite, since printed glazing shows reflections more than plain glass does, and let a lamp off to one side pick up the foil instead. For rooms built around character pieces and considered detail:
The Must Have Finishing Touch
Recently viewed
Overall rating: 0.0 / 5 from 0 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
Summary topics
Review topics: [].
Review highlights
Reviews
Q&A
Overall rating: 0.0 / 5 from 0 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
Summary topics
Review topics: [].
