Barometer and Thermometer
1700-1725 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the study of the sciences was developing fast. Thermometers and barometers hanging in a gentleman's apartment offered elegant evidence of the owner's intellectual interests.
This combined instrument was clearly designed for a library or for a small, personal room of the type known as a cabinet in France. Its case is veneered in boulle marquetry, which was highly fashionable at the time and took its name from Louis XIV's cabinetmaker, André-Charles Boulle. However, Boulle’s workshop was by no means the only one to use this technique, which combined ebony with panels of marquetry in tortoiseshell and brass.
This combined instrument was clearly designed for a library or for a small, personal room of the type known as a cabinet in France. Its case is veneered in boulle marquetry, which was highly fashionable at the time and took its name from Louis XIV's cabinetmaker, André-Charles Boulle. However, Boulle’s workshop was by no means the only one to use this technique, which combined ebony with panels of marquetry in tortoiseshell and brass.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Possibly oak veneered with ebony, tortoiseshell and brass; mounts of gilt brass |
| Brief description | Combined barometer and thermometer, veneered in ebony, with panels of boulle marquetry, of tortoiseshell and brass |
| Physical description | A combined barometer and thermometer in a case veneered in ebony with panels of boulle marquetry of tortoiseshell and brass. The barometer shows readings on an almost circular dial at the top, with the thermometer displayed on the front of a tapering case below this. The instrument is set with gilt-brass mounts |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by John Jones |
| Object history | Acquired by John Jones before 1882 |
| Summary | At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the study of the sciences was developing fast. Thermometers and barometers hanging in a gentleman's apartment offered elegant evidence of the owner's intellectual interests. This combined instrument was clearly designed for a library or for a small, personal room of the type known as a cabinet in France. Its case is veneered in boulle marquetry, which was highly fashionable at the time and took its name from Louis XIV's cabinetmaker, André-Charles Boulle. However, Boulle’s workshop was by no means the only one to use this technique, which combined ebony with panels of marquetry in tortoiseshell and brass. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1120-1882 |
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| Record created | May 26, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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