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Lot Essay
John Joseph Merlin was born on September 4th,1735 in Huys approximately five miles from Maastricht. Little is known of his parents but his half brother Charles Merlin was an inventor in Strasbourg and amongst other things invented a heavy weighing machine. Studying in Paris for six years at the Academie des Sciences he made his mark and came to London as part of the entourage of the Conde de Fuentes (d.1771). Arriving in 1760 Merlin formed part of the Count's household and was introduced to fashionable London and its scientific luminaries. As early as 1763 Merlin was granted an important commission for the French astronomer/clockmaker Gérome Lalande; a barrel organ for the Princess of Wales (Augusta of Saxe Gotha, widow of Frederick Prince of Wales and mother of George III). By about 1766 Merlin began working for the celebrated clock and automaton maker James Cox. He spent as many as four or five years in the employ of the famous master of automata in Spring Gardens, apparently as 'Principal Mechanic'.
Merlin invented the personal weighing machine offered and is known to have sold one as early as 1780 to Lord Stormont. His workshop, where the weighing machine was manufactured, was based in Hanover Square, London from 1783 onwards. The mechanism of Merlin's weighing machine is in effect that of James Wyatt's machine for weighing wheeled vehicles developed after the introduction of the Turnpike Act of 1741. The idea of weighing one's body seems to have been due to the Italian physician Santorio Santorio (Sanctorius) (1561-1626), who used a large steelyard for the purpose. In Paris in the mid-18th century a public weighing machine was maintained for persons to weigh themselves and it is likely that Merlin knew of this from his time in Paris (1754-1760). Merlin's contribution was to adopt this arrangement to a small, elegant and robust machine that was easy to use and to popularise it. A number of similar machines bearing Merlin's signature are known. Merlin opened his mechanical museum in the 1780s which he maintained until his death in 1803.
Merlin invented the personal weighing machine offered and is known to have sold one as early as 1780 to Lord Stormont. His workshop, where the weighing machine was manufactured, was based in Hanover Square, London from 1783 onwards. The mechanism of Merlin's weighing machine is in effect that of James Wyatt's machine for weighing wheeled vehicles developed after the introduction of the Turnpike Act of 1741. The idea of weighing one's body seems to have been due to the Italian physician Santorio Santorio (Sanctorius) (1561-1626), who used a large steelyard for the purpose. In Paris in the mid-18th century a public weighing machine was maintained for persons to weigh themselves and it is likely that Merlin knew of this from his time in Paris (1754-1760). Merlin's contribution was to adopt this arrangement to a small, elegant and robust machine that was easy to use and to popularise it. A number of similar machines bearing Merlin's signature are known. Merlin opened his mechanical museum in the 1780s which he maintained until his death in 1803.