Lot 574
574
A large and rare mid 19th-Century French brass and walnut Ramsden-pattern electrostatic table,
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more PROPERTY REMOVED FROM A FRENCH CHATEAU The following four Lots comprise a small collection of electrostatic equipment by the celebrated French company of Pixii and Son. Nicolas Constant Pixii (1776-1861) was the nephew and successor of the Dumotiez brothers' workshop in Paris, taking over around 1815-1818. He worked with his son Antoine Hipolyte (1808-1835) who began their collaboration in 1832 by inventing an electro-magnetic machine, the first practical mechanical apparatus to generate electricity after Faraday's induction principles, by means of a rotating magnet. He also invented a dilatation pyrometer and a design of vacuum pump, of which the instrument here offered is an example (Lot 576). The business moved to the rue de Grenelle in 1837, and it is this address that appears on two of the instruments here; the vendors' family purchased these pieces some time thereafter and they have remained in situ ever since.
A large and rare mid 19th-Century French brass and walnut Ramsden-pattern electrostatic table,

Details
A large and rare mid 19th-Century French brass and walnut Ramsden-pattern electrostatic table,
signed on a brass plaque Pixii Père et Fils Rue de Grenelle StGermain No18 à Paris, the 53.3cm. (21in.) diameter glass disc with partial silk covering (torn, sections missing) mounted between two pairs of leather covered pads in a walnut frame with brass ball finial and turning handle, the two brass conductors each with a U-shaped comb with glass ball ends and each raised on two glass columns from the walnut table with turned tapering legs -- 93.6cm. (36 7/8in.) wide; with a 9-jar battery in a silver foil-lined walnut box with two brass carrying handles, each jar lined with silver foil and sealed with red wax (one seal broken), eight connected via their brass ball finials with a brass rod to the pierced finial of the central jar with suspension loop, each jar -- 27cm. (10 5/8in.) high; and a large pair of glass-handled brass discharge tongs and a walnut insulation stool with glass legs

See Illustrations (4)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. This lot is subject to storage and collection charges. **For Furniture and Decorative Objects, storage charges commence 7 days from sale. Please contact department for further details.**

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