Beschreibung:

A RARE PAIR OF GEORGE III FIFTEEN-INCH LIBRARY TABLE GLOBES SOLD BY WATKINS AND SMITH, THE TERRESTRIAL DRAWN BY LEONARD CUSHEE, LONDON, CIRCA 1760 The terrestrial sphere applied with two sets of twelve hand-coloured engraved split half-gores incorporating rococo cartouche inscribed A NEW, TERRESTRIAL, GLOBE, DRAWN, From the Best Authorities, over further panel applied with banner Sold by Watkins & Smith Opticians Charing, Cross LONDON to the North Pacific and extensively annotated with principal cities, towns, rivers, lakes, and other significant features, the oceans with all significant islands labelled, California is shown as a peninsula, north-west Canada labelled PARTS UNKNOWN, Australia and New Guinea shown as a single landmass and New Zealand labelled NEW ZEELAND with only a limited section of the west coast shown, the Pacific labelled the GREAT SOUTH SEA and with overlaid analemma of the equation of time, the Equator land Ecliptic lines graduated in minutes and the Meridian similarly divided; the celestial annotated with major constellations incorporating fanciful figural representations and stars graded in seven orders of magnitude, the Equator and Ecliptic both divided for minutes, with panel inscribed A NEW, CELESTIAL, GLOBE near the Equator and the upper hemisphere with panel inscribed NB The Stars on this Globe, are carefully laid down, from y'e accurate Observatio'ns, of Mr. Flamstead & Dr. Halley, each sphere with poles incorporating brass hour rings and pivots for mounting within brass meridian circles divided for degrees, resting in wooden stands with matching hand coloured paper horizon rings each graduated in degrees 0-90 in two directions from both the East and West points of the compass within days-of-the-month and houses of the Zodiac with names and symbols, the stands each with four curved quadrant supports for the horizon ring over squat ring-turned upright issuing three cabriole supports with pointed pad feet, (both spheres with historic damage and repair). The globes and stands 66cm (26ins) high, 51cm (20ins) diameter. The partnership between Francis Watkins and William Hill is recorded in Clifton, Gloria Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 as working from Charing Cross, London, 1763-74. A 15-inch terrestrial globe by Leonard Cushee apparently identical to the present lot except for having his name within the lower part of the title cartouche (and now in a later stand) was sold at Bonhams, London The Connoisseur's Library Sale 15thnd February 2022 (lot 102) for £14,000. From this the terrestrial globe in the present lot can be attributed to Leonard Cushee no doubt supplied to Watkins and Smith for retail. Leonard Cushee appears to have predominantly supplied 2.5 inch pocket globes as examples in this size do appear at auction from time to time, however his full-sized table globes appear to be very rare. Leonard Compere Cushee is recorded in Clifton, Gloria Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 as a 'globe engraver' working 'Opposite the Temple Gate, Fleet St.' London in 1761. He was apprenticed to the distinguished globe maker Nathaniel Hill who had a workshop at 'The Globe and Sun, Chancery Lane' and it is possible that he was either the brother or cousin of an E. Cushee who succeeded Hill at that address. The Celestial globe is probably an updated version of one drawn in the Cushee/Hill workshops at Chancery Lane, perhaps even by Nathaniel Hill's master, Richard Cushee (1694-1731), who is known to have produced both terrestrial and celestial globes in this size.