A Sailenne boat portrait is cut glass: hull, deck, rig and water each cut from glossy glass, placed on a clear acrylic panel and set in low relief, then sealed inside a clear acrylic float frame on four steel standoffs, at 30 or 50 cm square. Tedooo draws it in a minute; the studio builds it in five weeks.
The specification
- Boat
- Glossy coloured glass, cut to shape, in low relief
- Glass
- Scored, snapped and edge-finished by hand, sorted by colour before placing
- Panel
- Crystal-clear acrylic, the invisible ground
- Frame
- A second clear acrylic sheet sealed over the glass, edges polished
- Mount
- Four brushed-steel standoffs, one per corner, fixings in the box
- Sizes
- 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm, square
- Name
- Optional, up to 20 characters, in dimensional script below the hull
- Design
- Drawn from your photo by Tedooo technology in about a minute; free until you approve
- Lead time
- About five weeks door to door; 32–36 days today, the estimate shown before you pay
- Packing
- Boxed with its corners protected, tracked end to end, ships worldwide
How a boat portrait is built
The photo is drawn in glass
Upload a photo of the boat on the create page; Tedooo's design technology turns it into a cut-glass design in roughly a minute. There is no charge and no card; change the name or the photo and have it drawn again until it is right.
You approve, then check out
What the studio cuts is the design you approved, which is why approval comes first and payment second. Nothing is charged until you check out through Tedooo, and no glass is cut until the payment clears. Both sizes, their prices and the delivery estimate are in front of you before any payment.
The design is checked and the glass sorted
Before any glass is cut, the design is laid beside your photograph and the two are compared: hull colour, stripe, windows, canopy. The loose glass is then sorted by colour into small dishes on the bench, matched to what the design calls for.
Each piece is cut
Every piece is scored with a glass cutter, snapped to the shape the design needs and finished at the edge. A sloop under sail is a dozen pieces; a trawler yacht with a wheelhouse full of windows is many more.
The boat is set in relief
Hull first, then deck and rig, then the water: each piece is placed with tweezers on the clear panel and fixed with clear adhesive so it stands a little off the surface. The waterline is set last and takes the longest.
The frame is sealed
The second acrylic sheet goes over the glass and the two are sealed at the edges, which are polished so they catch the light. From now on nothing can reach the glass, and the piece needs no cleaning inside.
The standoffs are fitted and it is packed
Four brushed-steel standoffs go through the corners, the wall fixings are bagged, and the piece is boxed with its corners protected and sent tracked end to end. It reaches most addresses in about five weeks and ships worldwide, with shipping and any duties calculated at checkout.
What is a boat portrait made of?
Glass, acrylic and steel. The boat is real coloured glass, cut to shape and set by hand; the ground it stands on is a clear acrylic panel; the frame is a second clear sheet sealed over it; and four steel standoffs hold it off the wall.
The colours are the glass: a runabout in chestnut and amber with silver chrome, a sloop in white and navy on cobalt and teal, a tug in black and signal red. A name, where you add it, is dimensional script below the hull. Nothing on the piece is printed. Each part is taken in turn in the materials guide.
Why is it cut rather than printed?
Because a print is flat and a hull is not. Cutting each part from its own piece of glass and setting it a little proud of the panel gives the boat an edge, a shadow, and a surface the light moves along as you pass; a print has none of those.
That is also why the frame is a float frame: with nothing behind the boat but the wall, the relief reads at once. Building it this way costs time, and that is what the weeks are; the lead time guide gives the dates.
How do I care for it?
A soft dry microfibre cloth across the acrylic now and then, and nothing wet, abrasive or ammonia-based, ever. The glass inside is sealed and is never touched.
- Dust: a soft dry microfibre cloth, lightly, one direction
- Never glass cleaner, alcohol or a paper towel: all three mark acrylic
- Light: the glass does not fade; hours of hard direct sun every day are hard on the acrylic over years
- If the acrylic is marked, write to the studio with a photo before trying anything; a person answers, usually within the day
Nothing more is needed; the care guide says why each rule exists.
How is it packed and shipped?
Built and packed in the studio, boxed with its corners protected and the fixings in a small bag, and tracked end to end. Most addresses see it in about five weeks, and your own estimate appears before you pay.
It travels with the standoffs fitted, so it is ready for the wall as soon as it is lifted out. It ships anywhere, with the shipping and any duties for your address worked out at checkout; a gift goes straight to the recipient if you give their address there.
What is not in a boat portrait?
No print, no photograph behind plastic, no paint, and no lettering you did not ask for. A ready-made piece from the shop carries no name; a piece from your photo carries one only if you type it.
No other person's photograph goes into it either. Yours is used to draw and build your piece and for nothing else: not shared, not used for training, and deleted when the order is done. The glass, the acrylic and the steel are the studio's; the drawing is Tedooo's; and the purchase itself runs through Tedooo.
Is every piece built the same way?
Yes. The sixteen boats in the shop, the three gift designs and the one drawn from your own photograph all go through the same stages, in the same glass, acrylic and steel, at 30 × 30 or 50 × 50 cm.
What differs is the boat: yours from a photo on the create page, or one of the kinds in the shop as a starting point. Every piece is one of one, drawn for the owner it is for.
Questions this leaves
Is it real glass?
Yes. The boat is cut from real coloured glass, piece by piece, and set in low relief on the clear acrylic panel. It is glass you can see the edges of, not a print of one, which is why it stands off the wall and catches the light as you move.
Is the frame included, and is it ready to hang?
Yes to both. Every piece leaves sealed in its acrylic float frame with the four standoffs fitted and the wall fixings in the box. Four screws and it is up; nothing has to be attached to the frame.
What sizes does it come in?
Two squares, 30 × 30 cm and 50 × 50 cm. The 30 suits a hallway, a study or a bulkhead and starts at $149; the 50 holds its own above a sofa or a sideboard, with its price shown live on the create page.
Who draws the design and who builds it?
The drawing is Tedooo's, made from your photo in about a minute at no charge. The studio builds it: the glass is cut, set and sealed by hand, and the studio compares the design with your photograph before the first piece is cut. The purchase itself runs through Tedooo.
Can it be returned?
No. Each piece is built for one owner from one approved design, and there is no return on it. Which is why you see the design before a single piece is cut, why approving comes before paying, and why the studio answers questions before you buy, usually the same day.