A stick barometer is a mercury barometer housed in a slender upright case, with the reading scale positioned near the top beside the column of mercury. The glass tube runs the length of the case and dips into a cistern at its base, and changes in air pressure cause the mercury to rise and fall against a scale marked with weather indications such as Rain, Change and Fair.
Stick barometers were made in England from the late seventeenth century and became popular domestic instruments during the Georgian period. Cases were typically of walnut, mahogany or later rosewood and oak, often with a broken pediment or rounded top, and the scale plates were of silvered brass, ivory or bone, frequently with a vernier for precise readings and a thermometer mounted alongside. Many were made or retailed by Italian-born craftsmen who settled in London and provincial towns, and their names often appear on the dial. Marine versions were mounted in gimbals for use at sea. Collectors value an original tube and cistern, a clearly signed scale, good colour to the case and, where present, a bowed front. Restoration by a specialist is advisable.
