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Object Overview
This miniature aneroid barometer, crafted by Short & Mason around 1890, captures a moment of true artistry within its polished brass frame. Its diameter of just 50 millimeters embodies compact harmony, while the golden sheen of the metal engages in a delicate interplay with light, creating a moment of visual pleasure for the observer. At the top of the case, a finely detailed rotating bezel bears an altitude scale reaching up to 10,000 feet. This bezel secures a flat glass with beveled edges, which refracts light to add depth and shadow, reminiscent of ancient astrolabes.
The silvered brass dial draws the eye into its soft, subdued silver glow, lending the instrument a refined, noble radiance. The pressure scale, rendered in London inches of mercury, emphasizes the precision and elegance of this measurement device, elevating the barometer to more than a mere functional tool.
A delicate blued steel hand glides across the dial, with its crescent-shaped tail elegantly accentuating the boldness and decisiveness of the design, embodying a sublimated balance between utility and aesthetics. Each line on the dial and every marking holds symbolic weight, transforming this instrument into a conduit for understanding the surrounding environment.
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aneroid capsule tensioned on a C-spring
brass, glass, nickel silver, silvered brass
The barometer, equipped with a graceful brass suspension ring, is housed in a leather case, which has preserved its excellent condition. This barometer is not just a scientific instrument but an object of profound historical significance, worthy of a place of honor in any collection.
Short & Mason were aeronautical, meteorological, surveying, and scientific instrument makers of London, England. The firm began as a partnership between Thomas Watling Short and the engineer, William James Mason, as aneroid barometer makers, and makers of other scientific instruments. The partnership was formed in 1864, and dissolved in 1900. At about this time, they began to work in partnership with Taylor Instrument Companies of Rochester, New York, USA, whose trademark Tycos they began to use, and the company continued to trade as Short & Mason.
They exhibited in the 1929 British Industries Fair, for which their catalogue entry, listed their entry as an optical, scientific, and photographic exhibit. They were listed as specialists in temperature regulators, and manufacturers of: Aeronautical, medical, meteorological, and surveying instruments; Barographs; Thermographs; Rain gauges; Pocket and military compasses; Prismatic and reflecting levels; Gas pressure gauges; Tycos sphygmomanometers.
In 1969 they merged with Taylor Instrument Companies (Europe) Ltd., of Leighton-Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, and the name Short & Mason ceased to be used.