Jason Clarke Antiques has dated this piece to the 1800s.
This set of six imperial standard measures were manufactured in the same year that the new Imperial Standards were enshrined into British law by George IV in 1824 and are comprised of a Bushel, Half Bushel, Peck, Gallon, Half Gallon & a Quart.
The beautifully turned handles are formed from mahogany on the larger three and from bone on the smaller trio.
Each measure is superby engraved to the top collar with the associated measure and with a middle section stating, “1824 County of Wilts” denoting the local department to which it was to be designated. The base collars are all marked with the maker’s name, Bate, London and proudly stating, “Maker of The Exchequer Standards”. The bushel states the same but with the additional space available it states, “Maker of the Original Standards for The Exchequer. City of London etc etc etc”.
The indenture number of 317 is also applied to each and the number 1 is also present beneath the maker’s name.
Sets of measures are seldom encountered but the following detail will I hope help in explaining why this set has more than ordinary appeal.
The maker, Robert Brettell Bate was a very high quality manufacturer of scientific instruments working in the early part of the Nineteenth Century. Born in 1782, to a family of Bankers in Stourbridge, he initially travelled to London to become a Haberdasher under his Uncle Robert Brettell. His Aunt, Mary Brettell had also moved to London some years before after meeting and subsequently marrying Bartholomew Sikes an excise officer who had been working in Stourbridge. It was the latter circumstances that would eventually enable Robert Bate’s meteoric career.
Whilst undertaking his work for the Government, Sikes had for many years been endeavouring to make design improvements to the Clarke’s hydrometer which was considered somewhat inaccurate. His petitioning of the Government finally saw some success when HM Excise formed a committee headed up by the famous scientist William Hyde Wollaston to judge the effectiveness of nine new hydrometer designs. In 1803 at the age of 73, Sikes was finally awarded the Excise contract but died almost immediately after, leaving the Government contract award in limbo.
In 1804, Robert Bate married his cousin, the daughter of his aunt Mary and Bartholomew Sikes and through successful petitioning by the family, the Board of Excise finally agreed in 1807 to honour the original 1802 contract. Bate’s new company had premises at 17 Poultry and by 1814 he had become a member of the Spectacle Maker’s Company of London. Having not undertaken an apprenticeship in scientific instrument making, this was a somewhat unusual circumstance but clearly proves the success that the hydrometer contract had brought him by this point.
The hydrometer Act of 1818 saw Bate undertaking further saccharometer and hydrometer improvements with William Hyde Wollaston for which patents were applied. This new focus on improving accuracy resulted in a Governmental Commission being set up in the same year and eventually led to the new Weights and Measures Act of 1824 which sought to unify standards across The British Isles.
It stated in part:
“And whereas not withstanding it is provided by the Great Charter, that there shall be but one Measure and one Weight throughout the Realm, and by the Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, that the same Weights and Measures should be used throughout Great Britain as were then established in England, yet different Weights and Measures, some larger, and some less, are still in use in various Places throughout the United Kingdom of Gr
Jason Clarke Antiques has dated this piece to the 1800s.
You can view the stock and full dealer information on the Jason Clarke Antiques Profile Page
Rare First Year Set of 1824 Governmental Measures by Robert Bate of London
