A GEORGE III STICK BAROMETER

Details

BENJAMIN MARTIN, LONDON, CIRCA 1760
A GEORGE III STICK BAROMETER
The case with broken-arch pediment and brass urn finial, ebonised columns with ivory capitals and bases, the serpentine section trunk with carved gadrooned cistern cover with ivory and ebonised balusters, the silvered plates with engraved feather edging, manually operated vernier, portable cistern with brass screw, fahrenheit mercury thermometer mounted on plate with engraved border, gut hygrometer with steel hand in arch, signed 'Martin / London'
Mahogany, ebonised, ivory and brass
39 3⁄4 in. (101 cm.) high; 6 in. (15.2 cm.) wide; 3 1⁄2 in. (8.9 cm.) deep

Provenance

with Moss Harris, New Oxford Street, London.
Acquired from R.A. Lee, London, June 1965.

Literature

N. Goodison, English Barometers, London, 1968, pp. 165-7, pls. 98-100.
N. Goodison, English Barometers, Woodbridge, 1977, pp. 179-185, pls. 122-3.
E. Banfield, Barometers, Wheel or Banjo, Trowbridge, 1985, pp. 59-61, figs. 64-65.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

awalker@christies.com +44 20 7389 2085

Lot Essay

Benjamin Martin (1704-1782) was a self-taught mathematician and lecturer on several scientific subjects, he settled in Fleet Street as an optician in 1756 and became a noted optical, mathematical and physical instrument maker. Martin was visited in 1769 by Jean Bernoulli, the astronomer to the King of Prussia, who noted his 'beaux instrumens' were Martin's advantage over the more eminent scientific lecturer James Ferguson.

Sir Nicholas Goodison noted: This is another but much grander example of Martin's 'Triple Weather Glass' or 'Aerometrum Magnum' as he described it in 1756 in an advertisement appended to 'An Essay on Visual Glasses', a tract which he issued from his shop in Fleet Street. The barometer is very close to the illustration in the tract (see Goodison, 1977, (op. cit.) pl. 118, p. 180).

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