Copernican-type planetary globe in cardboard and engraved paper mounted on a blackened wooden stand. France, circa 1810. H. 54 cm Diam. 36 cm Antique armillary spheres and planetaria from XVIII – XIX, Ptolemaic sphere and Copernicus models. The armillary sphere is the oldest known instrument for the astronomy of antiquity. It became more complicated with the increase of knowledge : supplementary concentric and movable rings were added to show the supposed orbits of the moon, the sun, the planets, with their eccentricities and the longterm motions by which they are modified. These instruments became more and more complicated and so gradually lost all suitability for practical measurements. They became curiosities for collectors, masterpieces of craftsmanship, which were elaborately and richly ornamenented for their princely owners.