An extremely rare and possibly unique globe by William King of Dublin and 'Alice's Celestial Globe' by Greaves & Thomas, London, are among highlights of a fascinating auction next week. The Christie's auction of globes and planetaria next Wednesday includes the previously unrecorded Irish pocket globe and a particularly strong section of miniature globes.
"A New Globe of the Earth Made & Sold by William King Dublin", circa 1760 (lot 12), is the only known globe attributed to the Dublin maker.
Mr Tom Newth, head of the scientific instruments department at Christie's, told The Irish Times that the William King globe was "exceptional - it may even be unique. King is recorded as a maker of scientific instruments.
"Irish globes are very rare. To find a previously unrecorded Irish pocket globe is very extraordinary."
Pocket globes have long been a popular collectible because of their size. They were particularly popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when collectors vied with one another to have the latest and most up-to-date globe. Territories on the Dublin globe include "New Holland", "Hispaniola I.", "Sumatra", "Van Dimens Land", "Negroland", "Country of the Hotentots" and "Moguls Empire".
Expected to fetch between £5,000 sterling (€8,120) to £6,000, the William King three-inch diameter, hollow-core pocket globe is based on a pocket globe by the respected Scottish globe-maker James Ferguson, an edition of whose globe also features in the auction (lot 10) at the lower estimate of £4,000 to £5,000.
The 33-inch diameter "Alice's Celestial Globe" by Greaves & Thomas, London, 2001 (lot 95), depicts the Red King's dream witnessed by Alice, as recalled by Lewis Carroll. In an oversize and unique proof copy of a proposed 12-inch diameter celestial globe, the normal figures of the constellations are replaced by illustrations from Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. For instance, Virgo is portrayed as Alice and Gemini as Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The globe portrays what Christie's describes as "an ingenious set of correspondences between the individual characters and the constellations". As described in the catalogue, one should keep in mind that "one of the central messages running through the Alice books, repeatedly stated, is that all life is but a dream; when one dreams in sleep, all the images and events that appear are created by the self".
Explains Mr Newth: "They have come up with an ingenious set of relationships for the characters in Alice in Wonderland and the celestial figures. Lewis Carroll did have an interest in astronomy. The characters correspond very well to the constellations."
There are as many as 25 lots of miniature globes, the market for which "remains resolute and robust". Other highlights include an extremely rare early 19th century, 4.5-centimetre, miniature terrestrial globe by Carl Johann Sigmund Bauer, "The World with its Animals" (lot 5), estimated at £2,000 to £3,000. A John Senex seven-centimetre "New & Correct Globe of the Earth" (lot 23), circa 1745, is expected to fetch £3,000 to £4,000.
A very rare pair of inflatable 19-centimetre table globes (lot 33), each made from untanned calfskin with an inner bladder of rubber, from Strasbourg, dating from 1831 and 1840, is expected to fetch £4,500 to £5,500.
A 19th century garden armillary sphere (a representation of the solar system) atop a cast-bronze, standing, naked figure of Atlas on a circular plinth base (lot 40), is estimated at £1,200 to £1,500, while a 20th century, solid-silver armillary sphere, held atop a cast, stooped, bronze, naked figure of Atlas should make £1,000 to £1,200.
A toy and train fair takes place next Sunday, November 25th, in the Rochestown Lodge Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
