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Pair of Black Forest Weather
Instruments
And now for something completely different.
These are very probably Swiss in origin, with the branded mark of a Paris seller on the back of each case. The aneroid barometer’s weather indications are in French marked with centimeters rather than inches, and both thermometers -- one red spirit and one mercury-- are graduated in centigrade with French temperature indications. The cases are carved from linden wood, also known as bass wood or sometimes lime wood. The decorative theme is oak leaves with acorns, and lion crests. Everything is in working order. Early 20th Century
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19th Century English brass desk-top telescope, with original fitted box Circa 1850-1870 |
This
is a very nicely made telescope of compact proportions, complete
and in excellent condition. Barrel diameter is 2.25 inches at the
objective lens, and the barrel length is 31.5 inches without the
barlow lens, 41 inches with. Three eyepieces are included, each with
a different width of field, and also a smoked glass cover for viewing
an eclipse. The mount is a swiveling tapered support on a tripod
base with cabriole legs, and an adjustable supporting strut. The
lacquer finish has been restored, and the original fitted mahogany
box - 32" long - is included. There is no maker's name shown.|
A very high-quality
early 19th century William
Harris & Co refracting telescope with a 3½" diameter
objective lens. It includes the The mahogany case holds everything except the floor tripod. The telescope barrel is signed Harris & Co., 50 Holborn London on the top of the main tube above the star finder. More.... Circa 1825 |
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Good quality small desk-top telescope Thomas Harris, Optical Instrument Maker, worked from about 1780 to the early 19th century, and in 1806 the firm was renamed Thomas Harris & Son. They were Opticians to the Royal Family for much of the 19th century. Harris & Son also made very fine barometers and other scientific instruments. Telescopes are difficult to date in a narrow range, but the style of engraving in the signature indicates that this one probably was made around 1840 to the mid-century. Circa 1840-1850 |
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Early 19th Century English 12 inch diameter This is one of the most beautifully engraved sundials we have offered in recent years. The center carries a fine compass star around the original 50 degree gnomon (south central England), surrounded by eight full bands of information. From the innermost ring:
The maker's signature is John Oclee, Watch-Maker, Ramsgate (Kent). Loomes lists John Oclee as practicing in Ramsgate from at least 1823 to 1827. Pigot's Trade Directory for Kent, 1824, lists James Oclee in Queen Street, Ramsgate. James was a member of the Clockmakers' Company from 1790 and is surely related. The firm was absorbed by Hinds Jewelers, Folkstone, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The sundial was a gift given in the names of the Church Wardens Mr. Geo. Hope, Esq., and Mr. T. Ramonell to their church (unnamed). The dial likely stood in a Kent churchyard for most of its useful life. Circa 1825 |
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Large 19th Century English boxed scale This is a scale in a very nice original
condition, still retaining its original set of cup weights. The steel
arm, stand, and pans dismantle for carrying in the drawer of the mahogany
box, No maker's name is shown. It is likely to have been made by Avery of Birmingham or a similar firm in the 19th century.
18.25" wide, 9.25"
deep, 4.25" high (box), 24.5" high overall |
and
there is a compartment in the drawer for the weights. Such scales were
made for commercial use, in everything from selling spices to pigments
for paint. The nine brass weights are in Troy ounces, from 30 down
to 1/5th. 
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17th Century English brass universal equinoctial ring dial This lovely instrument is a type of sun dial used by travelers, and is capable of telling the time of day in either hemisphere and at any time of year. This particular dial is also engraved with a "nautical" ring of zero to 90 degrees, coupled with a hole for a pin gnomon, for use in finding latitude. Use at sea, however, is actually somewhat limited because the ring needs to be steady to take a reading, not swinging on a rolling ship. Hanging by the ring, the hanger block is slid around the perimeter to place the [known] latitude, engraved on the face of the outer or meridian ring, at the top. The inner or time ring, engraved on its face with the Roman numeral hours of the day, is then opened to its stops, positioning it at 90 degrees to the outer ring. Next, the bar across the center, which has a table of dates engraved on its face, has its central slider moved to the current date, and is then rotated to align its flat face perpendicular to the inner face of the hours ring, which is marked in two-minute intervals. The small slider bar has a pin-sized hole in it, and when the whole instrument is carefully rotated into line with the direction sunlight is coming from, a point of light shines through the pinhole onto the inner face of the hour ring, allowing time to be told within two minutes of accuracy. While not signed, components of the instrument and engraving format are identical to exhibit D8597, a dial by Hilkiah Bedford, London (1634-1689), in the collection of the National Maritime Museum at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. There is an old repair to the hanging bracket of this dial. Many thanks to Hester Higton, author of Sundials: An Illustrated History of Portable Dials for technical data. Eight inches diameter |