UNIQUE GLASS DOOR with VINTAGE MAP of ARABIA For Sale

THE MAP OF ARABIA

From the monumental work Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Antwerp, 1570), by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598), the first uniformly sized and sistematically collected set of maps by different mapmakers which is acknowledged as the first atlas.

The map of Arabia, published by Ortelius was produced by Jacopo Gastaldi (1500-1566), Italian astronomer, cartographer and engineer, who was active in Venice from 1539.

The etching on glass is based on a scan, that was made in National and university library in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The particular map was chosen because of very elaborate and precise cut of printing plate and because Arabic peninsula is interpreted unusually vertical which is excellent for the composition on the vertical doors. Another reason for choosing this particular map were the Latin names of all the cities and seas, written on the map. It is much better accepted when the names are in Latin than in German for instance. The lettering is clear and readable and the cut plate was not too full of detail, as this could ruin the visibility of finished etched glass map.

The map was thoroughly retouched and any trace of bad printing detail is removed. The saw edge of detail on original printing, caused by the structure of paper is also retouched so the map is brought to a state as it should appear in ideal conditions, printed from the undamaged plate on the paper without structure. It was 1% digital job and 99% manual retouching what means that it took weeks of finest handwork to finish the whole map.

It was acid etched on 10 mm float glass in three shades of matte so that black appears most matte and white on print appears most transparent.

Glass is toughened and is meant for using as sliding door because map has border only on three sides and forth is unfinished as it never comes completely out of the wall. The map is not reproduced completely because the proportion 1:2 from the doors does not match the proportion of the sides of the map. So the right quarter of the map is not visible on the glass.

The dimensions are 89cm x 200cm with 10mm thickness.

The glass could be packed in a wooden box to be transported.

Traditional acid etching is very rare nowadays and there are only few on the whole world who still perform this ancient craft. There is even not much left from historical acid etched glass in Europe, especially not in Germany as it was heavily bombarded during the second world war.

The glass was made for an exhibition in Dubai UAE in late 2005 and is owned by the author, Ales Lombergar, master of acid etching. The glass is in the workshop of the author in Ljubljana, Slovenia, European Union and is without any wear so is considered as new.

The details of packing and shipping should be cleared by email before offerding.