Terrestrial globe clock

Terrestrial globe clock. Geographical details on the sphere include oceans filled-in by a wave pattern. Asia and America are part of one continent, and South America is labelled. There is a hypothetical southern continent around the South Pole. Six regions are engraved with names, and there are a few ships and monsters in the oceans for decoration.

The map of the globe fits into the tradition that started with the cordiform world map by Oronce Fine, designed in about 1519 and published in Paris in 1534-1536. The limited nomenclature makes it difficult to identify the particular source used by the maker. The set of anonymous gores of circa 1535 for a globe of 350 mm diameter in the Wiirttembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, and the unsigned and undated gilt De Bure globe of 230 mm diameter in the Bibliotheque Nationale, could both have served as the example.

Parts of the globe and clockwork were not originally mounted and there are some late 17th or 18th century additions. In 1936, new parts of the movement were fitted. A similar globe clock by Jacques de la Garde, dated 1551 is in the Louvre. Another unsigned copy of a globe clock with a map stemming from the same tradition is preserved in a private collection. For full details about the cartography and construction of this globe clock please refer to the related publication, Globes at Greenwich.
Jacques de la Garde