The Knies Globe

The origins of the so-called Knies Globe are not entirely known. It is named after its first verifiable owner, the German economist Karl Knies, who acquired it in Naples in 1848. It consists of an ostrich egg engraved with a map of the known world. The globe has been tentatively dated to the year 1560 and was presumably created in Northern italy. Most likely it was made for the private collection of curiosities of a middle-class merchant.

Time: ca 45 hours.

The initial idea came from this recently discovered globe: www.washingtonpost.com/nationa…
Inspiration came from at least two dozen maps from between 1490 and 1650 but the most influential was this one from 1568: www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servl…

More pictures here: panthaleon.deviantart.com/gall…