PRESS RELEASE____________________________________________DECEMBER 2009
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FASCINATING WORLD OF TERRESTRIAL POCKET GLOBES
“What little Gods we are - generous and petty by turns. Whether we are beggars on the street or lords on the lawn, our pockets might contain worlds.”
http://kellysearsmith.livejournal.com/59761.html
Or so it might have been for some Georgian gentlemen with these elegant pocket globes. For those eager for more detail on the object and phenomenon itself, antique dealer George Glazer writes of Newton: "In 1783, John Newton launched his globe making business with the first versions of this pocket globe and case, one co-published with the engraver William Palmer (fl. 1765-1803) and soon thereafter, one under his own imprint. Newton had apprenticed with Thomas Bateman, successor to Nathaniel Hill, and utilised the plates of Hill's 1754 pocket globe, adding recent discoveries by Captain Cook."
Pocket globes were often crafted of wood, ivory, and papier-maché. They relied on the engraver's art for the maps themselves. Cases were often made of fishskin and lined with celestial gores, in the case of terrestrial globes.
These two fine examples of pocket globes are available on our February auction:
Lot 548
A George lll Terrestrial Pocket Globe after Herman Moll
circa 1775
R30 000 – R40 000
Herman Moll was a cartographer and book store owner of German descent who settled and worked in London. He was one of the most well-known and distinctive European cartographers of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and had a career that spanned almost six decades. Moll had a strong and aesthetically-pleasing sense of design and was a master engraver, which led to the creation of unique and interesting maps, including Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.
Lot 549
A Rare Regency Terrestrial Pocket Globe by John Newton
circa 1818
R30 000 – R40 000
This example of a pocket globe is unusual on account of its diminutive size and the illustrations on both the interiors of the case. John Newton’s cartography was taught to him by Thomas Bateman (fl. 1754-1781), a pupil of Nathaniel Hill. Other globes made by Newton can be found in the collection of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.
For more information, please phone the furniture department of our Cape Town Office
021 794 6461
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