Description
Joseph Moxon (1627–1691), who wrote The English Globe in 1679, introduced pocket globes to England in the mid seventeenth century. Although their popularity peaked in the eighteenth century, when they were mainly purchased as ornate toys for the amusement of the upper classes, makers continued to produce them into the nineteenth century. Celestial globes showed the location of fixed stars in relation to each other and to the Earth. This 3-inch globe has recently been conserved. Conservation treatment began by removing surface dirt and old varnish. Brown discolouration to the gore was reduced by applying poultices over conservation-grade tissue paper. The poultices consisted of synthetic clay called Laponite RD, which softens ingrained dirt and facilitates its removal. The gores were removed by moistening the adhesive with humidification, and the underlying broken sections of plaster were reattached to the wooden sphere using Paraloid B72, a conservation glue. Areas where the plaster was missing or fragmented were filled with fresh plaster and smoothed down. The gores were reattached with methyl cellulose, a water-soluble conservation glue, and areas filled in with plaster were matched to the original using watercolour. Finally, the globe was varnished using a conservation resin to protect the surface.

14/01/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 14/01/2014