The contents of The Grange, Wendover - 02 Oct 2024
A RARE GEORGE III CARVED MAHOGANY STICK BAROMETER
£2,000 - £3,000
A RARE GEORGE III CARVED MAHOGANY STICK BAROMETER
BY FRANCIS WATKINS, LONDON, C.1760-70
the brass dial with engraved decoration with vernier scale, above a thermometer, signed 'F. Watkins, London', the case carved with leaves, scrolls and with side garlands of fruit and leaves, with a pierced cartouche surmount
100.5cm high
Provenance
The contents of The Grange, Wendover.
Catalogue Note
Francis Watkins (c.1723 - c.1784) was a leading instrument maker of the second half of the 18th Century and founded a business which continued until 1856. His shop was at Sir Isaac Newton's Head, 415 Charing Cross and from 1747-84, 5 Charing Cross. A very similar barometer at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA is illustrated in Nicholas Goodison, English Barometers 1680 - 1860, p.250., pl. 153. Another, from the Mulliner Collection is illustrated in Ralph Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, vol. 1, p.33, fig.21.