ART WITH A PURPOSE - WHY MEN LOVE ANTIQUE MAPS

Men are notoriously difficult to buy presents for, so with Father’s Day just around the corner we take a look at why a genuine antique map would be the perfect gift for your Father on June 16^th and why men seem to love antique maps.

WHY MEN DO LOVE ANTIQUE MAPS

• There is something masculine and no-nonsense about antique maps. They communicate spatial information effectively and it is fun to search out familiar places and landmarks.
• Men admire the specific combination of the mathematical mind and the artist’s hand. Maps are art with information: combining science, aesthetics, and technique.
• They are evocative of an exciting time of exploration and adventure, when Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus set out on voyages of discovery.

Antique map South East Asia – Copper engraving - Matthaeus Seutter - c. 1740

• They are works of art - elaborate cartouches adorn many maps and depict themes such as religion and mythology adding another informative dimension.
• Antique maps are a portal to the past, they show how man-kind viewed the world. They represent developments in geographical knowledge: the names and shapes of countries have changed over time, for example, California was once thought to be an island.
• Like art, cars and wine, maps are highly collectible. The rarer the map, the more sought after it will be.

Singapur – Lithograph – Brockhaus – 1894 -1897

City map of the island of Singapore. This map shows some interesting detail. Note the Volkspark (People’s Park) near the center of the map, the Malay and Chinese villages and notably the Malay cemetery located on the current Istana grounds. Hotel L’Europe is where current day City Hall is. This was the time that Beach road was by the beach (before the land reclamation). Singapore declared independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 and united with other former Britsh territories to form Malaysia, from which it was expelled two years later.
This map was published in the 14th edition of Brockhaus’ Konversations Lexikon.

The Past Perfect Collection has an extensive range of genuine antique maps of Asia and other parts of the world.
View the collection here.

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