Woman’s $199 Globe Found To Predate Discovery Of Australia, Worth 800X More
Image via Hansons Auctioneers
A globe purchased by a Welsh woman at an antique fair last year for just US$199 has recently sold for US$154,000—exceeding the initial US$26,000 to US$39,700 pre-sale estimate.
The woman had not known her relic was so valuable, and only found out when she brought it to a free valuation event at Hansons Auctioneers earlier this year.
The globe didn’t have Australia on its map, as it’s believed to have predated the discovery of the continent. It said North America was “conquered in 1530,” and featured intriguing artwork of sea monsters together with the oceans.
According to Artnet News, an expert at the auction house discovered that the globe, which was estimated to be made between 1550 and 1560, could possibly have belonged to Francois Demongenet, a famed French geographer who led globemaking during the time.
“The sheer age of the globe is mind-blowing. People would’ve been wearing ruffs and codpieces when they first handled this globe in Elizabethan England,” said Jim Spencer, Head of Hansons’ Library Auction.
“We think our globe could be the earliest ever offered at auction. To me, the globe feels priceless. It’s just so early and fragile to have survived the centuries,” he added.
While the artifact’s complete history may never be known, researchers believed it had been owned at one point in time by Major Edward Croft-Murray, a former keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, who had helped preserve historic relics from the Nazis during World War II.
When interviewed anonymously about the sale, the owner said she thought she “was pushing the boat £150 when I bought it during the pandemic. I had no idea it was so important and valuable.”
She had tuned in to the auction live together with her husband and friend, saying: “My friend was crying, I was in shock, and my husband was totally and utterly dumbstruck. It goes without saying that I’m delighted.”
🌍 Ancient globe – bought for £150 at #Welsh antiques fair – sells for colossal sum at auctionhttps://t.co/K3pEEHezxu@HansonsAuctions @LibraryAuction pic.twitter.com/pGhVRF0ghM
— Hansons (@HansonsUK) December 16, 2021
[via Artnet News, cover image via Hansons Auctioneers]
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