A hand-carved Nantucket quarterboard replica
In addition to being unique and very special, this Nantucket quarterboard was a gift for the ship’s owner. We custom-designed it to resemble the actual Nantucket quarterboards mounted on the ship. The following photos show our replica as well as the original quarterboard. Unlike most quarterboards, this one has an unusual shape. It has two distinct, customized ends instead of rounded ends. Although it was more challenging to make, it produces a one-of-a-kind board.
Nantucket quarterboard tradition
The buyer approached us with the idea of replicating a classic custom quarterboard from a family yacht. As a gift for his father, this board made waves and provided many good memories for the whole family. In the tradition of classic Nantucket homes, this board is intended for display only.
Made by hand, the old-fashioned way
Designs & Signs made this beautiful replica Nantucket quarterboard by hand. Travis Brandon designed the board to match photos of the original boards on the family yacht. First, our master carver shapes the teak and carves the letters by hand with a chisel, the old-fashioned way. Finally, Brendon Brandon finishes the board and gilds the lettering and scrollwork with 23 karat gold leaf. A quarterboard like this takes about four weeks to complete.
You can find the beauty of handmade signs in the small imperfections that hand tooling creates. The tiny, unique hand-tooled marks in the surface of each carved letter create a shimmering, glimmering effect that a machine can’t duplicate.
This photo shows the family ship with its unique handmade quarterboards. We enjoyed the challenge of creating an accurate copy of this board. The Nantucket quarterboard tradition goes back to the days of the whalers and traders in the North Atlantic. We are proud to keep this tradition alive and bring the art of handmade signs to the next generation of sea-loving boat owners.
A beautiful transom, a work of art!
This gorgeous ship has a beautiful stern. Hats off to the original sign maker who created this transom, a work of art.
About Nantucket quarterboards
In the 1800s, wooden sailing ships carried quarterboards that showed the vessel’s name. Most antique quarterboards date back to the maritime trade of the 19th century, when massive wooden vessels with five or six masts carried cargo up and down the East Coast of the United States. Typically, the ship’s figurehead carver made the artwork.
Salvaging the boards
Between about 1850 and 1930, many ships wrecked on the treacherous shoals around Cape Cod and the nearby islands. Occasionally, the quarterboards from the shipwrecks washed up on the shore. Residents would also remove boards from a wreck if they could reach it. The boards were often too large to keep inside, so Nantucket residents began to display them outside their homes. As whaling declined, more boards came ashore from retired ships, and the custom of naming Nantucket cottages took hold. Today, many homeowners display smaller hand-made quarterboards, and a cottage often has a name, with a quarterboard above or near the front door.
Nantucket house signs made to order
A Nantucket cottage is not complete without a name. Many islanders add a quarterboard to a new home, or they give one as a gift. We carve and gild custom teak quarterboards for cottages, with your cottage name, your choice of lettering, and your choice of ends. We ship our boards to the West Coast, Florida, New England, Boston, and Nantucket, and we sell many boards in the Chesapeake Bay region as well.
To start, send us your cottage name and a few photos of your home. Then we send you fonts and a drawing to review, and we adjust the drawing with you until it feels right. For another example, see our carved teak quarterboards for Del Mar.
View more of our Nantucket quarterboards below!
- Hand-carved teak boards
- Teak Quarterboards with Gold Leaf – Island Time
- Custom Boat Quarterboards and Transom Boards
See more of our carved boards: Custom Carved Quarterboards, Palladium Leaf Quarterboards, and Mahogany Boat Name Boards.
Contact Designs & Signs
Want a quarterboard for your Nantucket cottage? Send us a message through our contact form, or call (410) 798-5115.
