Best Handmade Globes in the World
by Mark Jeffery, globemaker at goodwoodglobes
Handmade globes are making a comeback.
In the early centuries of globemaking, all globes were handmade, traditionally from a papier maché base layered with plaster then covered with paper gores. Some globemakers are reviving these traditional techniques to create timeless globes. Others are making globes by hand using entirely different materials, from porcelain to wood, in innovative ways.
Here are some of the best handmade globes you can buy today.
No 302 – The Dark Fire – Cosmic Globes
This 12-inch globe, with its striking black and burnt brown design, is handmade in Greece by Cosmic Globes. It is available with placenames in either Greek or English.
Price: €170 (around $200)
Paranneaux Globes
These unique globes are hand-carved into wood by Paranneaux Globes in Colorado Springs.
Prices: on request
Luke Calder
Luke’ artworks are spun aluminium and steel and hand-gilded with copper. The results are some of the most extraordinary globes you’ll ever see.
Prices: each globe individually priced
The Little Globe Co
Artist and cartographer Loraine Rutt hand-crafts pocket globes from high-fired porcelain in London, England.
Prices: £275 – £595 (around $360 – $800)
Columbus Globes
The glass spheres from which Columbus Globes make many of their mid-sized globes are not so much handmade as mouth-blown.
When you browse their collection, be sure to choose from their glass desktop globes or glass floor globes, rather than their acrylic versions.
Prices: $679 – $7,449
Bellerby & Co Globemakers
Bellerby & Co hand-paint their beautiful globes in a picturesque studio in London, England.
Prices: £1,199 – £79,000 (around $1,600 – $105,000)
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