A RARE GEORGE III SCOTTISH CHEVRON-EDGED MAHOGANY MERCURY ST...

Estimate

£2,500 - £3,500

A RARE GEORGE III SCOTTISH CHEVRON-EDGED MAHOGANY MERCURY STICK BAROMETERJOHN RUSSELL, FALKIRK, CIRCA 1790The chevron banded case with swan neck pediment above arch-glazed door enclosing fine engraved silvered brass scale with arched banner titled BAROMETER over Vernier scale calibrated in barometric inches to the right and opposing the usual weather observations to the left, the lower margin signed Rufsell, Falkirk, the trunk applied with full-height half column enclosing the tube flanked by forty-five degree angle-grain veneers and chevron angles, over a slightly domed oval cistern cover.98cm (38.5ins) high, 15cm (6ins) wide.Provenance:The Dr. Castle Collection of barometers and other weather instruments. Purchased at Bonhams, London sale of FINE CLOCKS Wednesday 7th July 2016 (lot 2) for £1,690.John Russell is recorded in Goodison, Nicholas ENGLISH BAROMETERS 1680-1860 as settling in Falkirk in 1770 where he set up shop opposite the top of Kirk Wynd. He proved to be a very talented watchmaker who was subsequently appointed maker to the Prince of Wales in 1811. In addition to making watches and barometers he advertised as being able to supply musical clocks, organs, microscopes and thermometers. Of his barometers his best known models are a type similar to the present lot, but also fitted with a hygrometer and thermometer (following the specification of Benjamin Martin's 'weather glasses'), and his landmark 'royal' barometers - which are essentially an early design of wheel barometer with subsidiary dials allowing changes in pressure to be obtained down to increments of 0.001 of an inch. John Russell died in 1817 and was succeeded by William Dobbie who was known to have produced a few barometers to Russell's designs.