Vintage Oakland Panoramic "Birds Eye View" Map

This charming reproduction of a hand-drawn panorama of Oakland and the San Francisco Bay is a reminder of how much has changed in the past 100 years. Oakland is surrounded by intricate "tree limb" scroll work, framing and highlighting individual images of Oakland landmarks including: The Walsh residence (pictured right), the original City Hall, The Polytechnic Business College, Oakland High School and Chabot Observatory, among many others.

The Pictorial Map is a popular cartographic form that has been used to depict U.S. cities and towns since the early 1800s. The originals of many of the most beautiful (including this Oakland map) are in the collection of the Library of Congress. Known also as bird's-eye views and panoramic maps, these representations depict cities and towns as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Although not generally drawn to scale, they show street patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape features in perspective. To learn more, see this Wikipedia entry.

We are now offering a growing collection of vintage maps that can be custom printed to your choice of size.

Print Sizes:

• 16" x 25" -- $57
• 20" x 31.25" -- $63
• 24" x 37.5" -- $92

The framed example below is a 24" tall print, framed with a Larson-Juhl Marais series gold frame, a matching fillet etween two preservation quality mats and your choice of UV protective glass or acrylic. 34" print framed as shown, $942.