Classic Design: Furniture, Silver, Ceramics & Clocks

Classic Design: Furniture, Silver, Ceramics & Clocks

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 63. A rare George III mahogany wheel barometer, Samuel Northcote jnr., Plymouth, dated 1788.

A rare George III mahogany wheel barometer, Samuel Northcote jnr., Plymouth, dated 1788

Lot Closed

November 8, 03:04 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

A rare George III mahogany wheel barometer, Samuel Northcote jnr., Plymouth, dated 1788


8-inch silvered dial divided for 100ths of an inch, the inches indicated by a gilt-brass weight against a scale between the base and centre of the dial, signed in an oval reserve Samuel Northcote Junr., Plymouth 1788, the case inset with a brass disc and a large bow-fronted mercury thermometer with Fahrenheit and Reaumur scales, signed Wellington, London,

89cm 35in high

Samuel Northcote Junior was born in Plymouth, Devon in December 1742 and was apprenticed to his father, Samuel Northcote (1709-1791) a watchmaker and optician. He was also an elder brother to the painter James Northcote RA.  Despite being somewhat impoverished, the Northcote family were well connected and socialised with the family of Thomas Mudge, the famous watchmaker. Samuel junior remained in close contact with his brother James and his connection to London is evdent in the fine quality of the present barometer and use of a thermometer by Wellington.  Northcote died in Plymouth in 1813.

Alexander Wellington was an optician and maker of mathematical instruments between 1781 and his death in 1812. He was apprenticed in 1774 to James Search and took over Search's business in 1781. In 1788 he is recorded as working at 20 Crown Court, Princes Street, Soho, London.