Going Global Vintage Maps And Globes Have Inspired A Growing Wave Of Home Accessories

Maybe the geopolitical unrest of the last decade has made us nostalgic for a time when the world’s boundaries didn’t seem to be changing by the minute.

Or maybe we’re just tired of gazing at the moon and stars.

But suddenly, maps and globes - everything from priceless antiques from the Age of Exploration to the big blue globe from your fourthgrade geography classroom - are becoming hot collectibles and are inspiring a range of new home accessories.

Vintage maps and globes have been spotted in recent issues of home magazines, including Metropolitan Home and Martha Stewart Living. Hip home shops, such as New York’s Mood Indigo, are catering to young collectors searching for stylish globes from the ‘30s through the ‘60s. Catalogs and retail stores also are offering contemporary maps and globes, as well as map-inspired fabrics, picture frames, lamp shades and other accessories.

Even Hollywood is getting into the act. In the 1995 movie “While You Were Sleeping,” Sandra Bullock’s most prized possession is a battered illuminated globe that belonged to her parents.

While the trend may be partly a reaction to the oversaturation of celestial themes in the home furnishings market, it also suggests a growing interest in global travel and a yearning for a time when the world’s frontiers were yet to be explored.

“During the Elizabethan period, they referred to geography and mapmaking as the ‘science of princes.’ People were just learning about the world; it was an exciting period,” says Paul Cohen of Richard B. Arkway Inc., a New York gallery that specializes in rare maps, atlases and globes.

“Now that most of the world is discovered and people are so blase about new things, we want to get back to some of that excitement of discovery,” Cohen says.

Long before Christopher Columbus proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the Earth was indeed round, the ancient Greeks were fashioning spherical maps, or globes, to represent their view of the world. By the 18th century, owning a map or globe had become a sign of good taste, wealth and learning, says Norman Morrison, owner of Coach House Antiques, a British firm that specializes in reproduction globes, including the 1492 German model believed to have influenced Columbus’ attempt to sail west to the Orient.

“A globe was always part of the decor of a library in the 18th century,” Morrison says. “It has that connotation of Edwardian times when England was ruling the waves.”

Today, antique maps and globes - like piles of old suitcases, leatherbound books and ancestral portraits - still convey a sense of rich history and heritage. But originals are expensive and increasingly hard to find.

According to a recent article in Traditional Home magazine, serious collectors are paying anywhere from a few hundred dollars to the high six figures for maps from the 16th to the early 19th century. Increasingly, young collectors are searching out vintage globes from the 20th century to chart the world’s progress in modern times.

Colorful globes from the ‘30s through the ‘60s are far more accessible (read, cheaper) than rare antiques and are valued for their streamlined looks or schoolhouse appeal, says Andrei Clark, manager of Mood Indigo.

“They are very collectible right now,” Clark says. “A lot of it is nostalgia. People see them and say, ‘I had that globe in my bedroom’ or ‘I had a globe exactly like that in grade school.”’

Claudio Gottardo became fascinated with globes about six years ago when he started to notice the great variety of colors and sizes and the subtle eccentricities of the maps themselves. The New Yorker’s collection grew so large - it now numbers more than 120, including tiny globe pencil sharpeners and paperweights - that he opened a restaurant, Mappamundo on Abingdon Square, to hold it.

The most Gottardo has paid for a globe was $400 for a pre-World War II glass globe that lights up from the inside. Typically, he picks them up for $5 to $100 at flea markets and antiques stores.”

Raleigh, N.C., collector Perry Poole is more picky about the globes he collects. Poole’s admittedly small collection includes only globes with black oceans, which tend to blend better with the retro-style clothes and home furnishings he favors.

“They speak to me; I can’t really explain it,” says Poole, 34, of his globe collection, which spans the period from 1910 to just after World War II. “They show how much the world has changed.”

In addition to being interesting conversation pieces, maps and globes make a strong design statement, says William Hamilton, editor-at-large at Martha Stewart Living. The magazine recently featured an ocean-blue bedroom inspired by the color of an old school globe and a 1940s “literary map of America.”

“Maps are sort of a favorite ‘wallpaper’ device here, for obvious reasons,” says Hamilton, who suggests re-adapting old, but not rare, maps as lamp shades or room screens. “They’re so graphic.”

Fabric designers also have seized on map motifs for their strong graphic qualities and romantic appeal. Osborne & Little’s “Voyage” collection includes a print that looks like an ancient Chinese map with camels, winged beasts and other exotic modes of travel. Waverly’s “Chart House” design, introduced this fall, resembles an antique nautical map. The print pairs well with other “cozy” fabrics, including plaids and checks, brushed cottons and camp stripes, says Meri Stevens, the company’s president and design director.

While home furnishings designers are turning to maps for inspiration, modern mapmakers also are acknowledging the influence of home fashion. Rand McNally, perhaps the best-known name in cartography, recently introduced a new world map, Millennium, that is designed to blend with contemporary color schemes: Russia is shown in a stylish teal, China is aubergine and the oceans are a dove-gray taupe rather than the usual clashing blue, says Henry Doyle, the company’s manager of marketing communications.

Globes as well no longer have to look like stuffy library pieces or props from “Masterpiece Theatre.” Manufacturers now are making them in a wide range of styles - from traditional models in antiqued mahogany stands to high-tech versions with sleek iron bases that would look right at home sitting next to your laptop computer.

But while style increasingly is an issue for customers, even more important is the emotional response maps and globes seem to trigger in people, Doyle says.

“I think the romance of travel is what it’s all about. People sit in their armchair and say, ‘I used to live there’ or ‘My old girlfriend lives there’ or ‘I want to travel to this area.’ To a lot of people, it really is romantic to remember all of those places and long for the places they want to see.”