£500 - £700
A SCOTTISH GEORGE III CHEVRON-EDGED MAHOGANY MERCURY STICK BAROMETER BALTHAZAR KNIE, EDINBURGH, CIRCA 1800The onion-top chevron-edged case with visible tube and inset with an arched silvered Vernier scale calibrated in barometric inches to the right, opposing the usual observations to the left, beneath banner issuing floral sprays signed KNIE, EDIN'R to the arch, the base with oval lozenge-shaped cistern cover.99cm (39ins) high, 10cm (4ins) wide.Provenance:The Dr. Castle Collection of barometers and other weather instruments. Purchased from The Old Malthouse Antiques, Hungerford, 14th January 1989 for £1,500.Balthazar Knie is recorded in Goodison, Nicholas ENGLISH BAROMETERS 1680-1860 and Banfield, Edwin BAROMETER MAKERS AND RETAILERS 1660-1900 as working in Cork, Ireland from 1773 before moving to Edinburgh in 1776 where he remained until his death in 1817. He was born in Germany and spent several years travelling around Europe demonstrating his skills as a glass blower and barometer maker before finally settling in Edinburgh. He gained a considerable local reputation as a maker and repairer of barometers (and sand glasses including for maritime use). Knie was a notably inventive maker who is perhaps best known for developing a form of angle tube barometer which, by introducing a second acute angle bend into the tube, resulted in a more compact design (see Goodison, page 171, Plate 107); a very similar instrument to the present is illustrated by Goodison on page 175 (plates 112-13).
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