Lot 367
367
A VICTORIAN LARGE CARVED AND EBONISED STICK BAROMETER
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A VICTORIAN LARGE CARVED AND EBONISED STICK BAROMETER

BY MORITZ PILLISCHER, LONDON, CIRCA 1880

Details
A VICTORIAN LARGE CARVED AND EBONISED STICK BAROMETER
BY MORITZ PILLISCHER, LONDON, CIRCA 1880
The substantial case with ovolo-carved cornice, projecting angles to the top, the tapering fluted trunk entwined with two carved serpents, with mercury thermometer to the lower section, bevelled glass to bone angled two-day plates with twin sliding Vernier scales, signed at the top M. PILLISCHER 88 New Bond ST/LONDON and to the bottom Made for/COWTAN & SONS/Cabinet Maker &c/309 Oxford St LONDON
46 in. (117 cm.) high
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

The entwined serpents on the tapering column of this barometer suggest a possible link with medicine, but the iconography is uncertain. They are reminiscent of those found on the caduceus of Hermes/Mercury (strongly linked with medicine and the occult) in classical mythology, although the latter is surmounted by wings. The staff of the physician Asclepius (the personification of the healing or medical arts) is also customarily entwined with a single serpent.

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