Lot 65
65
A Victorian mahogany stick barometer with visible Gay-Lussac type siphon cistern
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A Victorian mahogany stick barometer with visible Gay-Lussac type siphon cistern

WILLIAM CALLAGHAN & CO., LONDON. CIRCA 1895

Details
A Victorian mahogany stick barometer with visible Gay-Lussac type siphon cistern
William Callaghan & Co., London. Circa 1895
The case stepped and moulded pediment with detachable glazed Fahrenheit and Réaumur mercury thermometer to the trunk above bevelled glass panel to visible siphon cistern, concealed tube, glass panel to two-day angled bone plates signed CALLAGHAN/23a New Bond St./Corner of Conduit Str.t/London, with twin sliding vernier scales
39¾ in. (101 cm.) high
Provenance
Sotheby's London, Good Clocks, Watches, Wristwatches and Barometers, 17 December 1997, lot 147.
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.

Lot Essay

William Callaghan & Co. are recorded working from circa 1860 to 1900, at three premises in Bond Street. They were at 23a Bond Street in 1894.
J.L. Gay-Lussac (b.1778-d.1850) made his improvement to the siphon tube barometer in 1816. The short limb of the tube is sealed at the top after the mercury is introduced and a small hole is made an inch or so below the seal, allowing air to get in but not letting mercury escape. The bent part of the tube is contracted to a capillary bore so that when the barometer is inverted capillary attraction keeps the mercury in the long limb. For a full account see Edwin Banfield, Barometers, Stick or Cistern Tube, Baros Books, 1985, p.203.

More from Important Clocks

View All
View All