Hand Crafted Globes By One Of The Last Globemakers On Earth

Published 9 years ago

Who needs globes when we have Google Earth? Some people do, and Bellerby & Co. Globemakers is one of two globemaking companies in the world. While cheap, flimsy globes are readily available worldwide, Bellerby’s work combines both old school methods and modern technologies. Even their biggest globe – the 127 cm Churchill – is made using “goring”, which is gluing map strips on the globe.

Peter Bellerby wanted a globe for his father’s 80th birthday. Unfortunately, he had to choose between flimsy cheap globes and fragile antiques. Bellerby chose the door number three, and decided to make one himself. This was much harder than he realized, starting with the search for accurate maps, and ending up with globe rotation issues. Along the way, he established a workshop and is now making classy, classical globes.

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Peter Bellerby started making globes in 2008; new team members need about six months of training.

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He had to figure out globemaking process by himself; it took two years to make a globe he could sell

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Image source: Stuart Freedman

Pater’s favorite part is putting on the last “gore” – a triangular bit of map that goes on the glove

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Unsurprisingly, Peter hopes to pass these skills down to his family

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Gores get multiple layers of paint; gore have to be made in identical sets, so that damaged ones could be readily replaced

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Measuring the orb and goring is an arduous process: if the gores are too small, it could lead to big gaps in coverage

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Gores are soaked in water before stretching and applying them to the globe

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Churchill is their largest globe at 127 cm diameter. It’s inspired by globes gifted to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during WW2

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Isis started painting around the coastlines in England and is working her way around Cambodia, Vietnam & towards the Americas

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An 80 cm globe in progress: the first half of the gores have to be laid down before the second hemisphere can be matched to them

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The gores are not printed in color: by adding pigmentation by hand, the globemakers achieve a better depth effect

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The studio works on several globes at the same time as the process requires time to set and dry

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Globes are usually transferred to a wooden base with a roller bearing system.

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Laying and manipulating the last gore onto a 36cm globe

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Image source: Stuart Freedman

Peter Bellerby himself

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Image source: Allun Callender

Desk Globes

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Image source: Ana Santl

Painting the Churchill

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The largest globe vs. the smallest

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Martynas Klimas

Writes like a mad dervish, rolls to dodge responsibility, might have bitten the Moon once.

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ancient arts, bellerby and co globemakers, bespoke globes, classical globes, globe-making, globemakers, globus, hand-made, handmade world globe, lost arts, lost skills, painted globe, wanderlust globe, world globe, world map
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