Regency Wheel Barometer Signed Cetti & Co. Smithfield, London

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About the Item

8” engraved and silvered brass dial with steel pointer and brass set-hand, adjusted by the bone set-key below. The dial and hands are protected by a cast brass bezel with a convex profile. Positioned above the barometer is a long and slender mercury thermometer and scale with inscriptions marking such phenomena as: Fever Heat, Blood Heat and Exrem’ cold. The silvering on both scales I believe is original and shows an old practice of highlighting the floral engraving with a burnisher. The case has a pine carcass, which is veneered in mahogany with holly stringing to the edges and inlaid shell and sunburst motifs. The veneer around the sides of the case is crossed-grained, with the grain running from front to back, always a sign a quality in the cabinetmaking. The wheel barometer had been an early invention of Robert Hooke’s in the late 17th century but was not widely made as a domestic instrument till the 1800’s. The alternative: a stick barometer, has a straight glass tube, the open end of which sits in a cistern of mercury. A vacuum is created at the top of the tube and the barometric pressure is read from the height of the mercury against a scale marked in inches (typically varying between 29” & 30”). This was the preferred English method until the arrival of a number of skilled Italian craftsmen such as Joseph Cetti at the end of the 18th century. The advantage of a wheel barometer with its u-tube bend and a system of weights and calibrated pulley was the incorporation of a larger, clearer dial with a pointer. One of the skills the Italians brought with them was glassblowing and Cetti & Co. are recorded as working at 3 Long Lane, Smithfield between 1802-39, producing not only barometers and thermometers but also looking glasses, picture frames and prints. The early two dial wheel barometers with an architectural pediment and finial are usually well proportioned and are often referred to as “Sheraton” because of their elegance, classical pediment and inlayed motifs. These elements had though, been in evidence for many years before Thomas Sheraton started to publish the 4 volumes of The Cabinet Maker’s and Upholster’s Drawing book in 1791. There were other influential designers and cabinetmakers whose drawings were distributed in the Regency period, such as Henry Holland, George Smith and George Bullock. Sheraton who died in 1806, seems an unlikely designer of barometers, drawing only a few clock cases and once claiming that longcase clocks were ”.. almoft obfelete in London..” but that he would include some in a letter work; “..to ferve my country friends.”

Dimensions:
Height: 38.98 in (99 cm)Depth: 2.37 in (6 cm)
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1815
Condition:
Seller Location:
Kent, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU97521012626