Featured Printing block - almost too good to be real

If it, including the block it's mounted on, was precisely .918 inches thick, it's what old-school printers call "type-high", meaning it could have been printed with standard type. If so, one would expect the plywood it's on to be inky - while the printing process is not so messy, the clean-up is. If not, a decorative piece, or re-mounted. The sharp edges of the routed-out areas (they kind of look like a contour map with three depths) in the empty spaces argue for actual use - someone took some time to do that: a simple photo-etched repro would not have that sharpness. They were still making zinc plates like this as late as 1997, which is the last time I had one made, and I see the company is still in business, so it might be newer still.

 

It does look legit in person, but not old. I think some steam punker had one made so that they could do old school letterpress with it. It's in vogue as an art form in some circles.