A pillar barometer
by Daniel Quare, London
Ebony, ivory, ormolu, cut glass, quicksilver. Four folding feet with mascaron appliques supporting a rectangular plinth and a tapering round column with a cuboid capital and a barometer with two scales labelled in French. Engraved "Faits Portatifs par Danl. Quare A. LONDRES" beneath the indicator and on the right side "75". H 102 cm.
After 1695.
Daniel Quare (1649 - 1724), a trained clockmaker, not only invented mathematical and astronomical instruments, but also the first portable barometer, which he patented in 1695. It had the advantage that it could be carried along on journeys. For this purpose, Quare lengthened the glass tube and closed it with a lid to prevent the mercury from leaking. Apart from these innovations, the instrument was particularly elaborate and aesthetically designed, meeting the highest demands. For Daniel Quare supplied the English court with these barometers - King William III (William of Orange) owned at least three of them. Among others, one stood in the royal bedchamber at Hampton Court Palace. The engraving on the specimen presented here possibly refers to an order from France, probably for the court of Louis XIV.
An almost identical example is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, see also Victoria and Albert Museum London, acc. no. W.64-1926.
Certificate
Sales permit for the EU internal has been obtained.
Provenance
From a Rhenish private collection.
Literature
For more on Quare see Baillie, Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World, London-Edinburgh 5/1966, p. 261.