A carver's mixture of resin, whiting, and glue, used instead of plaster of Paris for ornamenting walls and cornices.
Short for "composition," which is a plasterlike substance used in making decorative ornaments for frame finishing. Compo ornaments are applied to a wood frame base to give moulding an ornate, hand-carved look. Compo also can be used to repair or replace ornaments on a frame.
Composition, or compo, is a traditional picture framing material which is used as an alternative to carving to make decoration on frames. When heated, compo is soft enough to be pressed into decorative moulds. When cooled it becomes hard and durable. Compo is made from animal (hide) glue, whiting (chalk), linseed oil and colophony.