The Exhibition Cradle
Our Exhibition Cradle is the heart of what we do at STILT. We created it because we wanted to see books displayed in a way that honours them — gently supported at a natural angle that invites viewing and protects their structure.
Designed with care and practicality in mind, the Exhibition Cradle can be easily slid along a surface to fine-tune its placement. This lets you move the Cradle, not the book — minimizing handling and preserving your collection for years to come.
Features of our Exhibition Cradles
Core Material
All of our exhibition mounts are made of conservation-grade core framing material, compliant with EN ISO 9706.
Cradle Angles
Our exhibition cradles come in 4 standard opening angles. Please enquire should you require a bespoke opening angle not featured as standard.
Cradle Sizes
Our exhibition cradles come in 10 standard sizes which conform to standard book sizes, ranging from 64mo to Atlas.
Collapsible
All of our mounts and display solutions fold flat when not in use.
They are durable, reusable and made to last. They won’t crack or degrade, they are easy to transport and they take up minimal storage space.
Surface material
All of our exhibition cradles come with a choice of anti-slip surface to keep your book from sliding when tilted forwards on the STILT® Lectern.
Lectern add-on
Our standard exhibition cradles can be used on their own, flat against the table or they can attach to a STILT® Lectern of the same size.
Weight add-ons
All of our exhibition cradles come ready to attach our STILT® Weights which can be adjusted to accommodate most any book.
Hammock Add-on
Enhance your Cradle with a Hammock to ensure optimal support for friable spines and unstable board attachments.
Choosing the right angle.
For a binding with stable spine and board flexibility, choose for a wider angle such as 110º or 120º. For a binding with limited flexibility, choose for a smaller angle such as 90º or 100º. A good rule of thumb is: the smaller the book, the tighter the opening angle. We can make bespoke angles upon request.
The choice of angle will determine the overall height and width of your book on its STILT. If you have limited shelf height, ask us to help you calculate the final dimensions of your display.
Things to know about our Exhibition Cradle Sizes
These book mounts are purposefully designed to be slightly smaller and set in against the boards of your book. This way, all the attention goes to the book and not to the Cradle.
Our weight recommendations are intended to ensure optimal performance when using our Cradles with all accessories. However, the structure of our stand-alone Cradles can support a significantly higher distributed weight than suggested. If you need to support a particularly heavy book, please don’t hesitate to contact us for guidance.
For oblong books, we advise you to choose a cradle that is one size larger than the size of your book. If you have an unusually thick or heavy book, you may also want to consider upsizing. Please feel free to contact us if you need help choosing your sizes.
Average Book Sizes
Centimeters
64mo: ≈ 8 x 6 x 1.5cm
48mo: ≈ 10 x 7 x 1.5cm
32mo: ≈ 12 x 8 x 2cm
16mo: ≈ 17 x 10 x 2cm
12mo: ≈ 19 x 12 x 3cm
Octavo: ≈ 24 x 15 x 4cm
Quarto: ≈ 30 x 24 x 4cm
Folio: ≈ 48 x 30 x 5cm
Elephant: ≈ 58 x 37 x 6cm
Atlas: ≈ 64 x 44 x 6cm
Weight
64mo: up to 200g
48mo: up to 300g
32mo: up to 400g
16mo: up to 600g
12mo: up to 700g
Octavo: up to 1000g
Quarto: up to 2500g
Folio: up to 3500g
Elephant: up to 5000g
Atlas: up to 6000g
Inches
64mo: 2.4” x 3.2” x 0.6”
48mo: 2.8” x 3.9” x 0.6”
32mo: ≈3.1”x4.7”x0.8”
16mo: ≈3.9”x6.7”x0.8”
12mo: ≈4.7”x7.5”x1.2”
Octavo: ≈5.9”x9.4”x1.6”
Quarto: ≈9.4”x11.8”x1.6”
Folio: ≈11.8”x18.9”x2”
Elephant: ≈14.6”x22.8”x2.4”
Atlas: ≈17.3”x25.2”x2.4”
Surface Choice.
Our regular anti-slip surface is perfect for pop-up display in open spaces. It is compatible for short term contact with all secure organic book covering materials such as paper, book cloth, leather and parchment in well ventilated conditions.
For books with precious metal furniture, silk, embroidered surfaces as well as for longer term exhibition, please contact us so that we can help you choose the right surface for your particular context and custom fit it to your cradle.
Open Pages
Though our cradles are designed to accommodate our STILT® Weights, they are also compatible with melinex tapes. Just draw the melinex tape from head to tail across your book and secure it underneath the cradle surface. You can also use snake weights with our Cradles.
The advantage of our Weights design is that text is only minimally obscured at the margins. Our Weights are easy to lift and replace with minimal handling as you turn the pages of your book.
Curious to learn more?
Have questions or need an obligation-free quote? Just click here to get in touch—we’re happy to help! We’ll include any applicable discounts and recommend the best products to suit your needs.
Put your book on a STILT®
