Globe cup, Zurich c. 1580–90

Covered cup (Globuspokal), Zurich, c. 1580–90 

Attributed to Abraham Gessner (1552–1613). Medium: silver, partially gilded. Dimensions: Height: 50.5 cm;  Diameter: 16.8 cm. Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Accession number 2006.1178 (public domain).

This double cup in the form of a globe is a masterpiece of both Renaissance goldsmith’s work and cartography. The engraving of the globe is based on the 1578 edition of Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theater of the World), considered to be the first commercial atlas. Among the innovations of the new edition were the depiction of the Spanish and French territories in North America, ‘Hispana Nova’ and ‘Nova Francia,’ and the representation of two important rivers in South America, the Amazon and the Rio de la Plata. Above the globe is set an armillary sphere, an early astronomical device representing the Earth at the center of the great circles of the heavens.

Further detail.  Eleven further detailed photographs available on the MFA website, as well as a video showing how this globe comes apart to create to drinking vessels. 

Credits: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Video.  Something of the fascinating exercised by small terrestrial and celestial globes into the eighteenth century is conveyed by the quirky video from Cambridge below.