28 charts · framed from $95 · widths to 48 in · ready to hang
Coastal wall art that is actually about a coast
Framed nautical maps and antique sea charts, restored from the survey's own scan
Most coastal art is a painting of a generic blue horizon. This is the opposite: the working sea charts the US Coast Survey and the Admiralty drew of real water — every sounding, sandbar and light, surveyed from a boat and engraved by hand. Restored from the archive's own scan, printed at 200 dpi or better, and framed in solid wood. If you live near the water it shows, or you sailed it once, it is the one piece on the wall people stand in front of.
- Made to orderprinted and framed in your country, ships in 2–4 business days
- Ready to hangsolid wood, 2 in white mat, acrylic front, hardware fitted
- 30-day replacementdamaged or wrong — one photo, nothing to send back
- Never sold as antiquesthe archive and its record are named on every product page
Why a chart and not a coastal print
Three things a survey sheet has that a seascape does not
It names your water
Not "the ocean" — Nantucket Shoals, the Golden Gate, the mouth of the Chesapeake, Honolulu Harbor. A chart is a portrait of one specific piece of coast, which is why it means something to the person who knows it and still reads as a beautiful object to everyone else.
The detail survives the size
These sheets were engraved to be legible under a lamp in a wheelhouse. Our masters run to 10,800 pixels on the long edge, so at 48 inches the soundings, the fathom curves and the surveyor's lettering are all still there rather than dissolving into a blur.
The shape fits the wall
12 of these charts are markedly wider than they are tall — the natural shape of a coastline. That is exactly the wall above a sofa, a headboard or a console table, and it is the shape nobody else stocks.
For a long horizontal wall
12 charts wide enough to carry a 24×48 or 32×48 print above a sofa or a bed.
California as an Island, 1650
Antique Map of the Hawaiian Islands, 1893
Coast Survey Chart of San Francisco Bay, 1859
Puget Sound Nautical Chart, 1889
Lake Michigan Nautical Chart, 1894
San Francisco Bay Entrance Nautical Chart, 1859
Bird's-Eye View of Key West, 1884
Eldridge Chart of Vineyard Sound & Nantucket Shoals, 1874
All 28 coastal charts and harbour views
The oldest here is California as an Island, 1650. Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, the Great Lakes and Hawaii.
California as an Island, 1650
Antique Map of the Hawaiian Islands, 1893
Coast Survey Chart of San Francisco Bay, 1859
Cape Cod Bay Nautical Chart, 1879
Nantucket Shoals Nautical Chart, 1860
Key West Nautical Chart, 1864
Chesapeake Bay Nautical Chart, 1861
Puget Sound Nautical Chart, 1889
Lake Michigan Nautical Chart, 1894
San Francisco Bay Entrance Nautical Chart, 1859
Charleston Harbor Nautical Chart, 1862
New York Harbor Nautical Chart, 1861
Gulf Coast & Galveston Nautical Chart, 1863
Acadia Bar Harbor Topographic Map, 1904
Cape Cod Provincetown Topographic Map, 1889
US Navy Chart of the Coast of China & Japan, 1855
Bird's-Eye View of Key West, 1884
Eldridge Chart of Vineyard Sound & Nantucket Shoals, 1874
Pensacola Bay Nautical Map, 1860
Nantucket Harbor Nautical Chart, 1889
Lake Erie & Detroit River Nautical Chart, 1852
Isle Royale Lake Superior Nautical Chart, 1891
Lake Huron Nautical Chart, 1893
Detroit River Nautical Chart, 1894
Bird's-Eye View of Narragansett Bay, 1907
Imray Chart of the Coast from Boston to Savannah, 1851
Mobile Bay Nautical Chart, 1900
Honolulu Harbor Nautical Chart, 1888
Before you choose a size
See it on your own wall
Every product page places the print in five to-scale rooms with an optional 5 ft 6 in figure beside it, or drops it onto a photograph of your own wall — the photo stays in your browser and never reaches us. Framed outside size is shown as well as print size. Size guide →
Questions
Is this a real antique chart?
No — and we never describe it as one. Each is a new archival print made from the full-resolution scan that NOAA, the Library of Congress or a maritime library publishes of the original survey sheet. The institution and its record are named on every product page. An original 1860s Coast Survey chart is a collector's item; this is an honest, beautifully made print of one.
Why does a sea chart work as wall art?
Because it was drawn to be read at arm's length by someone who needed it. Soundings, sandbars, the light characteristics, the shoreline drawn by a surveyor in a boat — a chart is dense in a way a decorative coastal print is not, and it rewards standing close. It is also genuinely about a place, which is why they end up in houses near the water they show.
Do you have my stretch of coast?
28 charts and harbour views at the moment: the Atlantic from Boston to Savannah, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Vineyard Sound, Long Island and New York Harbor, Chesapeake and Delaware, Charleston, Key West and the Florida reef, the Gulf from Mobile to Galveston, San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, the Great Lakes, and Honolulu Harbor. If yours is missing, ask — sourcing a public-domain sheet takes a few days.
What sizes suit a chart?
Bigger than you think. Charts carry an enormous amount of fine detail and most of ours are wide — the panoramic ones read best at 24×48 or 32×48 above a sofa or a bed, where the shape of the wall matches the shape of the sheet. The size guide shows framed outside dimensions as well as print size.
Paper, canvas or framed?
Archival matte paper with pigment inks, rolled in a tube; stretched canvas; or framed in solid wood — black, natural oak or white — with a 2 in white mat, a clear acrylic front and the hanging hardware already fitted. Framed pieces arrive ready to hang.
How long does it take?
Made to order in 2–4 business days and shipped from a facility in or near your country. US orders over $75 ship free, and the claim form gets a free replacement printed within 30 days of delivery if anything arrives damaged.
More to look at
The full nautical collection · Gallery wall sets — 10% off the second framed print · Large wall art · Framed vintage prints