— Wonderful profile of Bellerby, maker of bespoke, handmade globes; explaining the intricate process:
globemakers work with gores, which pose a unique set of challenges. These long, thin, oval-shaped pieces of pre-printed paper must be carefully cut by hand and painted with a translucent wash of watercolour that lets the coastlines and place names show through. It’s a process that can take five to ten days, says Isis Linguanotto, head painter and a globemaker for ten years, who sits at a wooden workbench cluttered with jam jars of ink-coloured water, brushes and well-used paint palettes. A row of half-painted gores has been laid out flat to dry. Linguanotto will build up the thin layers of paint to shade and define borders and landforms – details as important for readability as aesthetics.
Once the painters have finished the first stage of their work, each gore is dipped in water, making it pliable (and very fragile) so that it can be stretched and carefully pasted to the fibreglass sphere. Most globes use 12 gores – larger ones may need 18 – and each must align perfectly with its neighbour, without overlapping, to ensure that every map line meets in the right spot. Overwork the paper and it will deteriorate and tear.
Just in case you were wondering why these things are so expensive.