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Object Overview
This incredibly beautiful mid 19th-century mahogany marine barometer, signed by Lilley & Son of London, is a quintessential example of a cistern barometer. Its luxurious American mahogany case houses a mercury tube with a boxwood cistern featuring a leather bottom. The brass base at the bottom of the barometer not only protects the cistern but also provides access to it, allowing, for example, the built-in screw to be tightened during transportation.
The noble register plates made of ivory are set at an angle and protected by thick flat glass with beveled edges. The plates are engraved with a barometric scale in London inches of mercury, as well as standard weather indication text. The vernier scale is also made of ivory and is operated by a rack mechanism using a brass handle on the front of the case.
The barometer is equipped with an alcohol thermometer tinted with cochineal and calibrated according to the Fahrenheit scale.
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cistern