Barometer, in a pyramidal case decorated with boulle marquetry and gilded brass mounts. The dial signed 'Ciceri selon Toricelli'

Barometer, housed in a case of pyramidal form with a separate bracket. Both case and bracket are oak, the shaft of the case veneered in turtleshell inlaid with a brass trellis pattern. Panels of boulle marquetry decorate the top and bottom of the case and the bracket.

The enamelled dial is fronted with glass and framed in gilt brass mounts. Acanthus leaves surround a mask at the top centre of the dial, the head of the mask topped with an elaborate shell. The shaft of the case is framed in gilt-brass, with a brass shell breaking the frame at the centre of its upper edge. There is an oval brass medallion fixed at the centre of the shaft. The case is topped with a gilt-brass finial - this consists of a crown sitting atop a globe, both crown and globe decorated with fleurs-de-lys. The bracket finishes in an acanthus-leaf mount.

Bequeathed by John Jones

This barometer was bequeathed to the V&A in 1882 as part of the John Jones collection. Mr Jones was a military tailor who over his lifetime amassed a large and important collection of 18th-century French fine and decorative art.

In his London house, Jones arranged his collection carefully, often grouping objects by maker, period, medium, style or historical association. When his collections entered the Museum, the importance of recording Jones’s arrangement was immediately recognised. In 1883, the Museum published a handbook illustrating the contents of the house. This barometer was hung in the entrance hall, and can be clearly seen in the engraving of that room on page 11 of the handbook.

This barometer, which was made in Paris in the 19th century, reuses many elements of French 17th- and 18th-century design. The gilt-brass mounts, in particular, are of a form first published in the late 17th century and then reused during a revival of the fashion for boulle marquetry in the mid 18th century. The design of the barometer reflects the ongoing interest in and fashion for 18th-century French decorative art in 19th-century Europe.

1122-1882