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Globe, English, Bardin, Terrestrial World, 12-Inch Table Globe, Cabriole Leg Stand, Antique, London, 1782

$25,000

William Bardin (c. 1740-1798) (maker)
Gabriel Wright (act. 1770-1803 or 1804) (cartographer and engraver)
12-Inch Terrestrial Table Globe
London: 1782
Mahogany tripod cabriole leg stand
24 inches high; 17 inches diameter, horizon band
$25,000

An 18th century British terrestrial globe is in a calibrated full brass meridian, within a circular horizon band with engraved paper calendar and zodiac, raised on a tripod mahogany stand. The horizon is supported by four mahogany quadrants joined with pairs of ogee brackets, the central baluster standard with spiral carving, the cabriole legs ending in snake pad feet. The legs are joined by compass stretcher with glazed round wooden compass case enclosing a paper compass card and magnetized metal needle. Hour circles are printed at both poles, and a moveable brass hour pointer is attached at the North Pole. As noted in the cartouche and in the legend at the South Pole, the cartography originated with the globe maker James Ferguson (1710-76) and was modified by Gabriel Wright in 1782. The globe was made and sold by William Bardin, London.

Product description continues below.

Description

Countries, major cities, major rivers and islands are labeled. The equatorial is graduated in degrees and hours in both directions, the ecliptic is graduated in degrees, and The Meridian of Greenwich is indicated but ungraduated. Trade winds are indicated with arrows in the oceans. The oceans are uncolored, with countries either uncolored or colored in shades of red, green and tan. Mountain ranges are indicated with hatch marks, and reefs are indicated with dotted shapes. Continents are outlines with hatch marks, some countries are outlined with colored borders, and some of Cook’s tracks are highlighted in green.

Wright updated Ferguson’s cartography and added the routes of Captain James Cook’s three voyages of exploration between 1769 and 1779, along with the location where Cook was killed in Hawaii. The tracks of Furneaux’s voyage in 1774 also appear. The northwestern portion of North America is labeled New Albion; the Midwest of the present-day United States, then claimed by the French, is called Louisiana. Native American tribes such as Creeks, Cherokees, and Padoucas are noted in the present day United States, and “Eskimaux” in Canada. Russia is labeled “Russian Europe.” In addition to nations still on the map today are countries since absorbed into other nations such as Prussia, Little Tartary, Circassia, and “Natolia or Kian Asia Minor.” In Asia, India is part of the Mogul Empire, and north of China and Korea — spelled here “Corea,” as it was spelled in English until about 1885 — is Great Tartary. A large central portion of South America between Peru and Brazil is called Country of the Amazons. Africa contains regions labeled Barbary, Nigritia or Negroland, and Mono Emugi, in addition to names more familiar today such as Ethiopia, Congo, and Benin. Australia is called New Holland and New South Wales, and a southeastern peninsula labeled Diemens Land. Antarctica, then unexplored, is not depicted, though “Vast Quantities of Ice” and “Fields and Mountains of Ice” are indicated in the general area.

The Bardin family was among the greatest globe makers in London from the late eighteenth through the first half of the 19th century. The patriarch of the family, William Bardin (c. 1740-1798) began globe production in the 1780s. The origin of Bardin’s globes is thought to be traceable to the early 18th century globes of John Senex, the father of British globe making in the Age of Enlightenment. Fifteen years after Senex’s death, the copper plates for his globe gores were sold to James Ferguson. In 1757, Ferguson in turn transferred his globe trade, including his Senex globe gores, to the scientific instrument maker and lecturer Benjamin Martin (1704-1782). Some of Bardin’s early globes refer to Ferguson, such as “A/New, Accurate, and/Compleat/Terrestrial Globe, /… originally laid down/ by the late/ Mr. James Ferguson, F.R.S. … Published as the Act directs … Augt. 1st/ 1783.”  William Bardin’s connection with Ferguson is thought to be through Gabriel Wright, who advertised that he had worked for Benjamin Martin for 18 years. Wright then collaborated with William Bardin, contributing to Bardin’s first globe, dated January 1, 1782, and named in the cartouche as “Ferguson’s Terrestrial Globe, Improv’d by G: Wright.”  Some of Bardin’s table globes of this early period were included with a subscription to the Georgian publication, The Geographical Magazine.

In 1790, William Bardin’s son, Thomas Marriott Bardin, completed a seven-year apprenticeship and joined the firm, thereafter trading as W. & T.M. Bardin. In 1798, the father and the son team began publication of their “New British Globes,” though William Bardin passed away in this year. The skill required for the production of these 12- and 18-inch globes was much admired in contemporary accounts. Bardin New British Globes were frequently marketed by the scientific instrument maker and dealer W. & S. Jones. Following T.M. Bardin’s death in 1819, his daughter, Elizabeth Marriott Bardin, continued the family globe business production until 1832, at which time the company’s ownership was passed to her husband, Samuel Sabine Edkins. He continued manufacturing Bardin globes under his own name. The firm closed a few years after his death in 1853.

Rococo Cartouche: FERGUSON’S/ TERRESTRIAL GLOBE/ Improv’d by/ G: WRIGHT,/ Where on all the new Discoveries/ of the late Capt. Cook & other/ eminent Navigators are/ currently laid down to/ the Present Time/Made & Sold by Wm. Bardin, No. 4 Hind Court Fleet Street

Inscription South Pole: Published according to Act of Parliament by G. Wright & W. Bardin Jan’y 1st 1782.

Condition: Generally bright, clean and easy to read. Globe and paper horizon band generally very good with the usual expected light toning, wear, and handling.  Some minor losses. cracks, and abrasions professionally restored, unobtrusive.  Stand very good with the usual wear and shrinkage.

References:

Dekker, Elly, et al. Globes at Greenwich: A Catalogue of the Globes and Armillary Spheres in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. London: Oxford University Press and the National Maritime Museum, 1999. pp. 260-261, 266-268. ZBA0130.

Dekker, Elly and van der Krogt, Peter. Globes from the Western World. London: Zwemmer, 1993. pp. 114-116. fig. 55.

Millburn, J.R. and T.E. Rössaak, “The Bardin Family, Globe-Makers in London, and Their Associate, Gabriel Wright.” Der Globusfreund, No. 40/41 (1992), pp. 21-57.

“Terrestrial table globe (GLB0169).” National Maritime Museum. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/19856.html (30 January 2018).

Additional information

Maker Location

,

Maker

Globe Type

Terrestrial

Material

Wood, Mahogany