What is the difference between a stick and a wheel barometer?

A stick barometer is tall and narrow, with the mercury tube running up behind an engraved register plate that you read directly. A wheel barometer reads on a circular dial, driven by a float and pulley, in the waisted case usually called a banjo. Sticks appear in a little over two fifths of titles on Sellingantiques. Wheel and banjo cases together make up roughly a quarter.

Are Georgian barometers usually signed?

Yes. The great majority of titles quote a maker or retailer name with a town, taken off the register plate or the dial. London addresses account for a good share, but provincial signatures run wide, from York and Exeter to Dumfries, Dublin, King's Lynn and Tiverton. Some plates carry the word fecit after the name.

Why are Victorian barometers listed under Georgian?

The dealer-supplied dates stretch from 1750 to 1930, so a fringe of later pieces sits inside the heading, including examples dated 1860 through 1890 and a couple from the 1920s and 1930s. One is described as Georgian Revival and another as being in the style of an earlier maker. Where a clean year is given, 1800 is by far the most frequent.

What woods were used for the cases?

Mahogany dominates, named in a third of titles, often inlaid or crossbanded with boxwood and ebony stringing or shell motifs. Rosewood, walnut, burr walnut and birds-eye maple each surface a handful of times. One early walnut example dated to the eighteenth century sits among the highest in the sampled range.

How often do these come up for sale?

About thirteen Georgian barometers come to market on Sellingantiques in a year, drawn from a sample of 142 listings. Forty-one different dealers have listed one, so the category isn't held by any single specialist.

What is an angle barometer?

An angle barometer has the tube bent toward the horizontal, which stretches the scale and makes small movements easier to read. One version is called a sign-post barometer. Two appear in the whole sample, and both sit near the top of the range.

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Georgian Barometers

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A wall-hung mercury barometer in a wooden case, made to read the weather at home, and on Sellingantiques most often a tall mahogany stick signed with a maker's name and town.