A George II brass-mounted walnut angle barometer, by Charles Orme, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, dated 1736, of 'sign-post' form, with brass mouldings and line inlay, the silvered plate inlaid with red and black wax extending over 33", manually adjusted sickle pointer above tube, signed made by Charles Orme of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire 1736, 94cm high, 121.9cm wide, 8.3cm deep (2)

Provenance: Robert Belfitt, J.P. of Sheffield.

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 19 July 1988, lot 260.

Literature: The Connoisseur, September 1916, (illustrated), recording ownership by Robert Belfitt.

C. Gilbert and T. Murdoch, John Channon and brass-inlaid furniture 1730-1760, 1993, lot 260.

Note: Sir Nicholas Goodison noted: This is the earliest known of Orme's angle barometers. The Connoisseur (no date) illustration mentions the accompanying 'Observations' and claims that 'the only other barometer known or made by Charles Orme' is at Calke Abbey, which is not so. There are a number of other examples (see N. Goodison, English Barometers, Woodbridge, 1977, pp. 192-6). The cistern cover has been reconstructed, the design based on another surviving example and on scrupulous study of the surviving acorn finial, the curve of the brass inlay and the need to accommodate the squared cistern inside.

A barometer of the same case model by Orme, also dated 1736, was sold from the Harbord family collection, Gunton Park, Norfolk, Irelands, 25 September 1980, lot 2043.

Please note Roseberys do not guarantee the working condition of barometers offered for sale.

Photographs: © Christie's Images.