Block Island, carved in layers of birch
Every depth a real step in the wood, not a print.
“Beautiful piece, expertly crafted. Packed well and arrived in perfect condition.”
Mark S., Hudson, OH. Verified buyer
Block Island in laser-cut Baltic birch, 16 by 20 inches: the pork-chop of land a dozen miles off the Rhode Island coast, ringed by the shoals and deep water that keep it feeling farther away than it is.
Details
- Dimensions
- 16 × 20 in
- Material
- Baltic birch, hand-stained water
- Build
- Up to 12 laser-cut birch layers
- Detail
- Carved bathymetric relief, laser-etched labels
- Soundings
- NOAA nautical survey data
About this piece
The island runs on two harbors and one long habit of independence. Great Salt Pond, opened to the sea by a channel cut in the 1890s, became New Harbor and fills with hundreds of boats on a summer weekend; Old Harbor keeps the ferries and the Victorian hotels. At the southern end, the Mohegan Bluffs drop some 150 feet to the beach, and the Southeast Lighthouse above them had to be moved back from the eroding edge in 1993, all 2,000 tons of it. Roughly half the island is protected open space, which is why the Nature Conservancy famously ranked it among the last great places in the hemisphere.
Each contour is a laser-cut sheet, stacked by hand and engraved, with acrylic glass over the relief and a solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light.
One ferry ride separates island people from everyone else. The crossing is the top two layers of this chart.
The engraving covers Old Harbor and New Harbor, the bluffs and both lights, Sandy Point's long spit, and the rips off the corners. Across the sound sits Narragansett Bay and Newport.
- 16 × 20 in
- Solid Baltic birch frame in Dark or Light
- Acrylic glass front, ready to hang
- Free next-business-day shipping on orders placed by 2 PM EST
- 14-day returns
Shipping and returns
Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US, with tracking.
14-day returns if the size or frame is not right for the room.
Going on someone else’s wall? It ships packed and ready to wrap. Add a gift note in your cart.
Not a print
Run a finger across it. You can feel the water get deeper.
Up to 12 sheets of Baltic birch, each one laser-cut to a real depth contour from NOAA survey data, stained darker as the water gets deeper, then stacked by hand. Deep water falls away layer after layer; the shallows sit close to the surface, just like the real thing.
How the water becomes wood
Anyone who grew up on this water has a spot on this chart.
The dock, the crossing, the stretch of shoreline that meant summer. Most people find theirs in the first minute. Every shoreline, island and depth contour of Block Island is cut, layered and etched from real survey data.
Built for the wall it ends up on.
A solid birch frame in Dark or Light, an acrylic front that keeps dust off the layers without the glare of glass, and hanging hardware already on the back, so it goes up the day it arrives.
From the people who hung one
22 reviews, 5.0 average
Live from the water
Questions people ask before they buy
Straight answers to the things that stop an order.
When will it arrive?
Orders placed by 2 PM EST ship the next business day, free anywhere in the US. You get a tracking number as soon as it leaves.
Which size should I choose?
The larger size is the one most people hang in a living room, over a sofa, console or mantel; it reads clearly from across the room. The smaller size suits a hallway, office, bathroom or boat. Both carry the same detail.
How is it packed? Will it survive shipping?
Each piece ships framed, with the acrylic front already in place, in a box built for it. "Packed well and arrived in perfect condition" is the most common thing reviewers say about delivery.
What if it is not right?
14-day returns. If the frame color is wrong for the room or the size is not what you pictured, send it back.
Is this a print?
No. The water is up to 12 physical layers of birch, each laser-cut to a real depth contour and stacked by hand. The names and depths are burned into the wood. You can feel every step.
Do you have my lake?
195+ lakes, bays and coastlines. Use the map below to find yours, or search it. Each of the Great Lakes, for example, is also available on its own chart at closer scale.
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