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Lot Essay
Little is known of instrument-maker William King of Dublin, and he is not previously recorded as a maker of globes; indeed there are no globes by King in any public collection. Clifton records him as working in Dublin between 1767 and 1784.
The cartography of this globe is based closely on that of Ferguson's pocket globe. However, these gores are clearly King's own work. The engraving is not the work of an expert engraver, being indistinct and irregular in places; however, despite this, King elected to construct his globe with a hollow core, as opposed to the fair easier construction method of merely laying the gores onto a solid wooden sphere. Additionally, the trade label is part of the gore upon which it is engraved, rather than being an overlaid cartouche; and the Antipodes to Dublin betray a specifically Irish origin. Original to King, then, the gores still copy Ferguson's closely, as in general they are almost identical. There are, however, several small but significant differences: King uses Greenland as opposed to Ferguson's more usual Groenland; King does not name the Anian Str on the western coast of North America, as Ferguson usually does; Ferguson usually calibrates his latitude scale up to 80°N & S, whilst King calibrates only up to 70°; Ferguson has the Red Sea in North America, as opposed to King's Vermillion Sea; King labels the rivers Euphrates and Ganges, whilst Ferguson does not; Ferguson's Desert of Chamo above the Chinese Wall becomes Desert of Sand. These are only a few of the difference: many further ones are signified by the slight difference in the placing of letters or even of islands or land masses between the two sets of gores, or by discrepancy in the use of apostrophes and other minor changes. There are similar minor differences on the celestial gores, laid to the interior of the case, and interestingly, it is also reasonably unusual to find the spherical fishskin-covered case for a pocket globe such as this with only one brass hook and eye.
The cartography of this globe is based closely on that of Ferguson's pocket globe. However, these gores are clearly King's own work. The engraving is not the work of an expert engraver, being indistinct and irregular in places; however, despite this, King elected to construct his globe with a hollow core, as opposed to the fair easier construction method of merely laying the gores onto a solid wooden sphere. Additionally, the trade label is part of the gore upon which it is engraved, rather than being an overlaid cartouche; and the Antipodes to Dublin betray a specifically Irish origin. Original to King, then, the gores still copy Ferguson's closely, as in general they are almost identical. There are, however, several small but significant differences: King uses Greenland as opposed to Ferguson's more usual Groenland; King does not name the Anian Str on the western coast of North America, as Ferguson usually does; Ferguson usually calibrates his latitude scale up to 80°N & S, whilst King calibrates only up to 70°; Ferguson has the Red Sea in North America, as opposed to King's Vermillion Sea; King labels the rivers Euphrates and Ganges, whilst Ferguson does not; Ferguson's Desert of Chamo above the Chinese Wall becomes Desert of Sand. These are only a few of the difference: many further ones are signified by the slight difference in the placing of letters or even of islands or land masses between the two sets of gores, or by discrepancy in the use of apostrophes and other minor changes. There are similar minor differences on the celestial gores, laid to the interior of the case, and interestingly, it is also reasonably unusual to find the spherical fishskin-covered case for a pocket globe such as this with only one brass hook and eye.