A PAIR OF 13½-INCH, 17TH-CENTURY DUTCH TABLE GLOBES. AMSTERDAM: JAN JANSZ. VAN CEULEN, 1682 (TERRESTRIAL) AND AMSTERDAM: JOAN BLAEU, ‘1603’ [BUT AFTER CIRCA 1621] (CELESTIAL)

The terrestrial composed of 12 hand-coloured engraved paper gores laid down to polar calottes, signed in one engraved cartouche ‘Ioannes van Ceulen […] 1682’, the equatorial and ecliptic graduated in degrees, the Ferro meridian graduated in degrees, tropics and polar circles marked, the globe showing a partial Australian coastline, Tierra del Fuego as an island, and other recently-charted geographical discoveries, the seas and oceans with rhumb lines for 32 compass points. 

The celestial composed of 12 hand-coloured engraved paper gores laid down to calottes at the ecliptic poles, signed in one engraved cartouche by Willem Blaeu, the equatorial and ecliptic, and the solstitial and equinoctial colures graduated in degrees, the 48 Ptolemaic and 4 non-Ptolemaic constellations, and the southern constellations of Plancius depicted figuratively by mythical beasts, scientific instruments, etc. in the style of Saenredam (vide infra), and identified by their Latin names, incorporating data from Plancius and Houtman, the stars in gilt and shown to six orders of magnitude with the nebulae, the tropics and polar circles marked, the globe mounted at the celestial poles, cartouches with a portrait of Tycho Brahe, a table of magnitude,  and a table of precession. 



both globes mounted in brass meridian rings graduated in degrees, without hour-rings or pointers, upon Dutch wooden stands, the horizon rings supported by four turned ebonised columns and central ebonised pillar supports, united by two stretchers with a turned circular base-plate, hand-coloured facsimile paper horizon rings showing days and months, feast and saints days, and houses of the zodiac and associated characteristics, both globes with significant restoration of cracks and surfaces losses, some missing areas restored by hand in ink and watercolour, one with applied paper slip bearing text



 

As noted in the catalogue description, the terrestrial and celestial globes have suffered some significant damage to the surface and the plaster has cracked causing surface losses of both plaster and engraved paper. This has been restored by infilling of missing plaster and the missing engraved surface has been supplied, and the missing text and colour has been added by a modern hand. In some instances the missing text has been supplied by applied paper slips bearing the missing text, although this restoration has not been executed to a particularly high standard, and appears to have been undertaken by someone without a knowledge of Latin (the language of the globe's text); this has led to some regrettable renderings, such as that of the Latin text 'gyris discurrerent: hinc factu ut in' as 'gyris diseurrerent: hine fictu ut in' on one label. As noted in the catalogue description, the original brass hour-rings and the associated pointers are missing, and the brass meridian rings, which appear to be later additions (without the numbers on the reverse, which one expects to find on the meridian rings of Blaeu globes) are slightly distorted, causing them to sit awkwardly in the stands. The wooden stands appear to be contemporary, but have been restored with the application of modern paper horizon-ring labels, executed to a reasonable standard (although that on the celestial globe has suffered a small loss of paper). Some elements of the stands (e.g. the wooden bosses on the upper surface of the base-plate) appear to be later additions. Nonetheless, this remains a rare pair of table globes by one of the greatest Dutch globe-makers and cartographers of the 'Golden Age'.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Elly Dekker, Globes at Greenwich (Oxford and Greenwich: Oxford University Press and the National Maritime Museum, 1999), GLB0107 (terrestrial) and GLB0101 (celestial)
Peter van der Krogt, Globi Neerlandici(Utrecht: HES, 1993), BLA1, state 4 (terrestrial) and state 3 (celestial). 

These are a rare pair of the first celestial and terrestrial globes produced by Blaeu, one of the greatest Dutch globe-makers of the ‘Golden Age’. As a young man, Willem Jansz. Blaeu (1571-1638) had visited the celebrated Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe at his Uraniborg observatory on Hven in 1595, where he assisted Brahe with his observations and also made a close study of Brahe’s celestial globe. This served as the basis for Blaeu’s first celestial globe, which was issued in 1597 or 1598, using the observations of Brahe and other astronomers and depicting the constellations pictorially with drawings commissioned from the Dutch artist Jan Pietersz. Saenredam: ‘The astronomical content combined with the new drawing style made this celestial globe the best and most modern of its time’ (E. Dekker and P. van de Krogt, Globes from the Western World (London: 1993), p. 45).  However, it was soon challenged by a celestial globe published by Blaeu’s greatest rival, Jodocus Hondius I in 1598, which incorporated data from the new observations undertaken in the southern hemisphere by Petrus Plancius’ expedition. Blaeu’s response was to sponsor a second expedition to chart the southern skies, led by his fellow-citizen of Alkmaar, Frederick de Houtman, which provided an alternative – and improved – source of astronomical data. The present globe is the third state of Blaeu’s 1597/1598 celestial globe, which was issued after circa 1621; the only distinction between the second and third states is that the dedication to Maurits of Nassau, Prince of Orange is signed ‘Guilielmus Janssonius Blaeu’ (rather than ‘Guilielmus Janssonius Alcmarianus’, as it had been in the two earlier states).

Shortly after the celestial appeared, Blaeu published a terrestrial globe dated 1599, which allowed him to offer a competitor to Hondius’ pair of terrestrial and celestial table globes. Blaeu’s terrestrial globe was later re-issued in circa 1618-1621, with updated details of recent discoveries of Schouten and Le Maire in South America, and then issued again in or after 1621 with re-engraved cartouches reflecting the publisher’s adoption of ‘Blaeu’ as a surname. After Willem Jansz. Blaeu’s death in 1638, the business passed to his son Joan Blaeu (1596-1673), and in turn to his sons, who continued the business after his death until 1682, when they sold the stock and assets to Jan Jansz. van Ceulen (1635-1689). This example of the terrestrial globe can be identified as the fourth state by the new cartouche bearing van Ceulen’s imprint dated 1682, and so presumably dates from the period between 1682 and circa 1700, when Jacques de la Feuille (who had received the Blaeu inventory through his wife) re-issued the terrestrial with a new imprint label bearing his name pasted over van Ceulen’s.

Pairs of Blaeu’s first set of globes are rare: van der Krogt’s comprehensive conspectus identifies 25 pairs in various (mainly later), states, held in private and institutional collections, although the present location of some of these is uncertain (pp. 494-496).