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Object Overview
This Imperial Russia Walnut-framed Barometer, dated circa 1900, was produced by the renowned German company Gotthilf Lufft and features a captivating brass composition of the barometer’s internal movement.
The barometer is housed in a striking carved walnut frame with a characteristic warm brown hue. Vertically arranged, the composition integrates a thermometer at the top and a barometer at the bottom, evoking the silhouette of a stylized fleur-de-lis with branching scrolls.
The upper portion is adorned with elaborate vegetal ornamentation resembling symmetrically curved acanthus or palmette leaves, framing a central vertical element reminiscent of a budding flower. Beneath it, set in an oval wooden niche, is a mercury thermometer mounted on an opal glass plate. The scale is marked in Réaumur and Celsius degrees. The niche provides an architectural depth that highlights the instrument’s dual function.
The central section transitions smoothly into supportive elements formed as stylized volutes and foliage, leading the eye toward the main feature — the barometer.
n/a
simplex (American)
brass, cardboard, glass, opal glass, wood
The barometric module is carefully mounted within a circular recess, framed by a finely carved ribbed bezel. This bezel imitates the fluting of classical architecture, giving the central section a strong sculptural quality. The barometer is visually “sunk” into this frame and is encircled by a brass ring holding thick flat mineral glass with beveled edges.
The lower part of the frame continues the organic decorative theme: scrolls, leaves, and symmetrical motifs converge in a refined bottom finial, echoing the forms above and lending a sense of compositional balance.
This casing unites the expressive decorative vocabulary of Neo-Renaissance or Neo-Gothic styles with the functionality of a household scientific instrument. Its sculptural richness and symmetry underscore its dual role as both a precision tool and a decorative interior object.
The open paper dial is composed of two overlapping discs: the larger disc bears printed weather terms in uppercase pre-revolutionary Russian orthography and typeface, while the smaller inner disc displays the barometric scale, calibrated in the uncommon Rheinland inches of mercury, ranging from 27 to 30.
Such a dial construction allows for precise adjustment of the scale when changing geographic location. For the weather terms to be meaningful, the manufacturer sets their position based on where the barometer is intended to be used, which limits the instrument’s accuracy to that specific region. However, if the dial is designed so that the pressure scale can rotate independently of the weather inscriptions — as is the case here — the user can recalibrate the markings when relocating by aligning “Change” with the average pressure level characteristic of the new location.
At the bottom of the main dial, the maker’s logo is printed — the initials G and L (Gottlieb Lufft) beneath a compass square and a flourish of ornamental detailing.
Through the open dial, the viewer is drawn to the graceful, almost ornamental forms of the internal brass mechanism. Its flowing lines, precise symmetry, and stylized contours evoke echoes of Art Nouveau, steam-era mechanics, and late-classical ornament.
At the base of the mechanism lies the aneroid capsule, mounted on an iron frame. Above it, a flat elongated rocker arm is easily recognized by its top arch, resembling a heraldic crown. This counterweighted piece narrows into a sword-like shaft terminating in a downward-angled pressure lever.
The rocker, mounted on a central pivot, tilts in response to the capsule’s deflections. A small sharpened stud is soldered near the “crown” and rests on the capsule, transmitting its motion downward to the pressure lever. This, in turn, presses on a pivoting plate connected to a perpendicular angular lever. From this angular lever, a twisted silk thread winds around the pointer shaft several times, producing the rotation that moves the indicator hand.
What, then, are the symmetrical brass plates in the center, reminiscent of insect wings, that so capture the eye? They are two structural elements: the larger one supports the pivot points for the rocker, and the smaller one above it holds the pointer shaft in place. Essentially, these are mounting plates, securing all the moving parts of the mechanism.
Despite the abundance of whimsical brass forms, the barometer movement remains elegantly simple in its mechanical logic.
This instrument embodies the perfect harmony between scientific utility and decorative sophistication — a testament to the era when even precision devices were crafted with artistic intent.