Globemakers Bellerby & Co painstakingly hand-craft exquisite heirlooms of the future. Company founder Peter Bellerby never set out to become a globemaker – having previously set up and managed a bowling alley.
After a fruitless search for the perfect globe as a gift for his father’s 80th birthday, Peter decided to make his own. So began a lengthy odyssey of maps, moulds, the politics of geography, the importance of pi – and the birth of a thriving business. Today, Bellerby & Co’s luxurious handmade globes range from mini to massive, are sold by Harrods and have starred in Hollywood films and television programmes.
From the stand to the artwork and map-making, each globe is expertly crafted by a small team of trained globemakers, using traditional and modern techniques. On his voyage to success, Peter came across – and overcame – numerous icebergs, from fathoming how to spin a globe smoothly on the earth’s tilted axis to laying and stretching 24 map pieces on a sphere leaving no gaps, and political disputes over the names and borders of different territories worldwide. When Peter was unable to source perfectly spherical moulds, fabricators of Formula 1 cars offered a solution. He is regarded by many as reviving a fading craft, and director Martin Scorsese buying four Bellerby & Co globes for his film Hugo was a significant highlight.
Bellerby & Co also undertakes commissions for bespoke globes, incorporating personal engravings and specific maps or artwork.
Courtesy of theenglishhome.co.uk