Published: 21/10/2008 00:00 - Updated: 19/02/2009 09:55

Historic globes set to go under hammer

Written byLAURIE DEVITT

A RARE pair of 230-year-old globes which were left in Ashby by French prisoners of war at the end of the Battle of Waterloo before ending up in Burton will come under the hammer next week.

The pieces are expected to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000 when they are auctioned off by TV's Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson later this month.

Mr Hanson said he was 'extremely excited' about the find.

"They belonged to a French Masonic Lodge formed in Ashby de la Zouch during the Napoleonic hostilities called Des Vrais de Odre," he said.

"After being discovered in a store room, the globes were acquired by The Royal Sussex Masonic Lodge, in Burton, in 1817.

"The maker of the terrestrial and celestial globes was George Adams, of Charing Cross, London, who is considered to be the most important maker of such instruments in the 18th Century.

"Made in 1774 during the reign of King George III, the globes note Captain James Cook's discovery of the Australasian archipelago."

Despite some wear and discolouration, Mr Hanson said the globes were in good condition considering their age - and that the stands for the globes, which are painted black and gold, were made by the French prisoners of war shortly before they returned to France.

"They were on display between 1890 and 1900, and have been stored away in Burton for 50 years," he said.

"A watercolour of 1859 illustrates the globes in their social context within the Grand Lodge in Burton while a letter of 1815 notes the furnishings."

The Royal Sussex Lodge is still in existence and meets at Ashfield House, in Ashby Road, Burton.

The globes will go under the hammer on Wednesday, October 29, at the Mackworth Hotel, in Mackworth Village, near Derby.

More information about the items is available by telephoning 01283 733988 or emailingservice@ hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

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