20-Inch French Art Deco Floor Globe
J. Forest, Paris: c. 1924-30

This item is sold. It has been placed here in our online archives as a service for researchers and collectors.

20-Inch French Art Deco Floor Globe
Detail of globe Detail of globe Detail of globe
Detail of globe Detail of globe Detail of globe
Detail of globe Detail of globe
Detail of horizon band Detail of horizon band
Detail of horizon band
J. Forest (globe maker)
E. Girard (geographical editor)
20-Inch Terrestrial Floor Globe
"Physique Politique Historique"

Paris: c. 1924-30
Wood Art Deco stand
42 inches high, 28 inches diameter overall
Provenance: A private villa in Palm Springs, California
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

A large, colorful terrestrial floor globe in a calibrated full meridian. The unusual and decorative horizon band is composed of 12 separate calibrated applied paper sections, each with a richly detailed, hand-colored illustration of a zodiac figure.   The horizon band also has four applied paper sections indicating directions of the compass.   It is raised on a hardwood stand with full frieze, having three curved quadrants ending in a terminal turned finial that support the meridian on a domed wooden meridian holder.  The three rectangular tapering legs each have an ebonized rectangular cuff above a blonde wood rectangular tapering foot.  The flat planes of the legs are similar to those popular in the neoclassical period of the late 18th century, but adapted here to the streamlined Art Deco style. 

Present-day St. Petersburg, Russia is shown as “Leningrad (Petrograd),” indicating the globe was made just after Petrograd became Leningrad, in the period between 1924 to 1930, also coinciding with the golden era of the French Art Deco movement.  The globe shows Constantinople rather than Istanbul, further indicating a date before 1930.

The globe is titled: Globe Physique Politique Historique [Physical, Political, Historical Globe].  Colonies and protectorates of France, England, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Japan and the U.S. are outlined in different colors, according to a key to “Colonies et Protectorats.”  Cartographic information listed in the legend includes independent nations, provinces and tribal areas; capitals, major and smaller cities; completed and planned railroad lines; state and provincial boundaries; warm and cold ocean currents; navigation routes; underwater cables; rivers, marshes, glaciers and ice fields; altitudes; and year of discovery.  Oceans are blue, land is cream-colored, and colonies and protectorates are outlined in pink, red, yellow, white and green.

Read more about J. Forest in our Guide to Globe Makers.

Cartouche: GLOBE/ Physique Politique Historique/ Echelle 25.000.000 ou 1 millimètre pour 25 kilom./ Dressé par/ J. FOREST/ E. GIRARD, Géographe Editeur/ 17, Rue de Buci, 17/ PARIS