About us and our globes
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Lander & May Ltd. is a globemaking company formed by Chris Adams.
Chris grew up in the bohemian transitional town of Totnes, Devon. He left school at 15 and worked in fishing and farming until curiosity and wanderlust led him to hitchhike alone across Europe whilst still in his teens. He eventually landed in London, and put himself through art college, working as a motorbike despatch rider. He gained a Fine Art degree and a wife. Longing to return to a coastal/rural community, the couple moved to the Isle of Wight, where Chris learned his trade as a globemaker. He has worked for two decades to produce handmade globes of distinction which have been sold to collectors, museums and galleries all over the world. He has also made many globes which have appeared on TV and film. Chris is someone who understands first hand the land and the sea. He lives in Cowes with his wife and three young sons, and is an active crew member of the RNLI. |
A globe is many things: a recorder of travel and exploration; a snapshot of world history at a particular time; a navigational and geographical aid; an ornamental piece of decorative art or a family heirloom of the future.
Whilst respecting the traditional expectation and presentation of a globe, we have also made some re-interpretations within our collections, and styled some of our pieces in a lighter, fresher way. Our globes are all handmade by Chris, and follow the age-old traditional method of making a papier mache ball skimmed with plaster for a smooth robust finish, then covered with printed paper globe gores (sometimes colour printed, sometimes printed black and white then hand tinted), then sealed and varnished. It is a slow, meticulous process, taking time and care. We only use British components for all our globes, and have sourced everything needed within the UK. For the stands, we have used local woodturners, and also found interesting and well made one-off pieces from salvage which deserve a longer life and another chance to shine. |