A flat map can be folded into a pocket. A globe asks a different question: how do you carry all those coastlines, labels and colours around a sphere without losing their relationship? At Bellerby & Co, that question becomes a patient sequence of drawing, paper work, painting and finishing.

The London studio’s story began with Peter Bellerby looking for a globe for his father. What sounded like a manageable personal project became a demanding craft and, eventually, a specialist business.

Artisan adding painted detail to the paper surface of a globe
Artisan adding painted detail to the paper surface of a globe. Gallery attribution: Bellerby & Co Globemakers.

From a sheet of paper to a curved world

One of the key elements is the gore: a shaped strip of map paper designed to fit part of a sphere. Several gores meet to form the complete map surface. Their edges must align so the geography continues across the joins.

In the studio’s original account, the team describes wetting and carefully applying the paper, with painting and other stages requiring time between operations. It is a process in which small inconsistencies can become very visible once the whole globe comes together.

The photographs make that concentration tangible. A hand works on a tiny detail while a much larger unfinished world waits beside it.

Painting is part of the object

Colour is not merely decoration added after the real work. The shading around coastlines, the balance between land and ocean and the clarity of lettering all affect how the globe is read.

A globe also has a physical life: its sphere, support and finish determine how it stands, moves and feels to use. Looking at the studio images, notice how the makers move between very different scales, from a broad area of ocean to a small illustrated feature.

That combination of cartography and hand work is the attraction. There is no need to claim that only two workshops in the world still make globes by hand to find this one fascinating.

A globe changes familiar relationships

Turn a globe until an ocean is in the centre, or look at the world from above a pole. Places that sit at opposite edges of a rectangular map suddenly become neighbours in the same view.

It is a useful exercise for travellers too. Trace a route, then look at the land and water around it rather than only the departure and arrival points. The shape of the journey may become more interesting than a straight line between two cities.

Appreciate the studio as a working place

The old gallery shows a particular period in the workshop’s life. It is not an announcement of unrestricted public access or a promise that every model pictured remains available. Use the maker’s own site for current enquiries about products and any visiting arrangements.

Bellerby and Co craftsperson working on a large globe in the studio
Bellerby and Co craftsperson working on a large globe in the studio. Gallery attribution: Bellerby & Co Globemakers.

For another meeting of maps and hand-made art, explore Ed Fairburn’s portraits. His work changes what you see within a map; a Bellerby globe changes how that map occupies space. Both reward the pleasure of looking closely at something that initially seems familiar.