Weather instruments are devices for measuring and recording atmospheric conditions, including barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, barographs, rain gauges and anemometers. In the antiques world the term chiefly refers to domestic and scientific instruments made from the seventeenth century onwards, many of which were also fine pieces of furniture.
The mercury barometer, invented in Italy in the 1640s, became a fashionable household instrument in Britain from the late seventeenth century. Stick barometers in walnut and later mahogany were followed in the Georgian period by wheel or banjo barometers, which often combined a dial, thermometer, hygrometer and spirit level. Many were made by Italian immigrant makers working in London, Edinburgh and provincial towns, whose names appear on the dials. The aneroid barometer, introduced in the mid-nineteenth century, allowed more compact designs, and the barograph used a clockwork drum to record pressure on a paper chart. Collectors look for signed makers, original scales and mercury tubes, good veneers and complete fittings. Restoration of barometers requires specialist knowledge, particularly where mercury is involved, and working examples remain both practical and decorative in halls and studies.
