The three-dimensional representation of the celestial vault and all its constellations on a physical sphere can be traced back to Ancient Greece. A good example may be found in the Almagest, a thirteen-volume treatise on astronomy written by Claudius Ptolemy in the second century AD, which set in place a geocentric model of the universe and remained a basic source of reference throughout the whole of the Middle Ages. Ptolemy described how to build a copper celestial globe, including in it a number of circles that would serve as guidelines to pinpoint the location of the various celestial bodies detailed in his catalogue of stars. The positions of the different constellations in the sky were portrayed as a mirror image, as if the globe were a representation of the celestial dome. That was the basic use astronomers made of it until well into the nineteenth century.

In the Modern Age, celestial globes marking the position of stars and constellations in the sky are seen as an appendix of terrestrial globes. The boom in astrology during that period meant that it is frequent to see the twelve astrological signs of the zodiac also included.

The piece at hand complements the terrestrial globe also made by Newton, and has two discrete inscriptions. The first one includes the author’s signature: "A NEW CELESTIAL GLOBE / By J. Newton 1785"; the second inscription remits to the authority of two renowned astronomers of the time: "NB The stars on this Globe / are carefully laid down from accurate observations / of Mr Flemstead & Dr Halley".

John Newton was the founder of a highly prestigious company dedicated to making terrestrial and celestial globes, that would later be continued by his children.