Event Description
Virtual seminar at the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History. Speaker: Beate Fricke.
The celestial globe displays the sky, the silver dots indicate the stars, the engraved lines and inscriptions the constellations. The brass globe, made in Lahore and purchased by Henry Moser during his travels in Central Asia, has not received scholarly attention so far. It belongs to a group of astronomical instruments produced in South Asia, which gained popularity at the Mughal court since the mid-16th century.
But how does the loss of knowledge related to this particular object affect our study of the object itself? Shall we address or remain silent about the gaps in the history of its existence between its making at Lahore, India, the purchase by Henry Moser on his travels since 1883, its participation in exhibitions about the “Orient” in Switzerland, and its conservation since 1922 in the Historische Museum in Bern?