Matthaeus Greuter (1564-1638) - photo 1
Matthaeus Greuter (1564-1638) - photo 2
Matthaeus Greuter (1564-1638) - photo 3

Matthaeus Greuter (1564-1638)

Lot 57
30.07.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 27 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 381265
Lot 57 | Matthaeus Greuter (1564-1638)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
GREUTER, Matthaeus (1564-1638). [Two sets of globe gores for a Terrestrial and Celestial Globe, 49cm (19-inch) in diameter.] Rome: the Terrestrial dated 1632, the Celestial 1636.

A very rare set of original half-gores for a pair of Greuter's famous globes. Matthaeus Greuter was born in Strasbourg and worked as an engraver in Avignon and Lyon before moving to Rome. He published large maps of that city (1618) and of the whole of Italy (1620 or 1630), and it was in Rome where he began producing globes, starting with the 19-inch terrestrial in 1632. Dedicated to Iacopo Boncompagni (1613-1636), the terrestrial takes its cartography from Willem Blaeu's (1571-1638) 68cm globe of 1622. Greuter, however, does not include the rhumb-lines and his oceans are highly ornate, decorated with several ships and sea-monsters, with only a few wind-roses. The fictitious island of Frisland is given, and North America lacks detail and the Great Lakes are all merged into one, but 'the geographical representations in this region are of special historical interest, as are indeed the geographical records in the several sections of North America, particularly in the South and West' (Stevenson II, p.58).

The celestial was produced four years later in 1636, and Greuter in the cartouche claims that it is based on the work of 'that most eminent Danish Astronomer Tycho Brahe'. Brahe (1546-1601) produced the first western star catalogue since antiquity and was visited by Blaeu in 1595. Along with Blaeu, traces of cartography can be seen from both Pieter van der Keere (1571-1646) and Petrus Plancius (1552-1622). '[Greuter] is entitled to rank with the leading globe makers of the Netherlands' (Stevenson, II, p.55).

Rare on the market: the last pair of Greuter globes to sell at auction was at Christie's, 5 Dec 2013, lot 87 (£80,500 https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-pair-of-italian-19-inch-globes-matthus-5759409-details.aspx?from=searchresultsD=5759409 ); but for engraved gore sets the last to appear was at Christie's Rome 15 Dec 1998, lot 483 (25 million Lire).

Tall, narrow folio (433 x 164mm). 48 engraved half-gore sheets, making up two globes, each globe made up of 24 engraved half-gores printed on tall narrow sheets mounted on guards, both globes signed and dated by Greuter in the cartouches (browning and spotting to the northern terrestrial 'Western Europe and Africa' and the celestial 'title cartouche' gore sheets, other sheets with occasional light spotting or staining mostly confined to the blank margins). Modern speckled calf, panelled in antique-style, spine gilt in seven compartments.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.07.2020 – 30.07.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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