Rare French Atmos — Barometer Joins the Collection
An unsigned French Atmos — Barometer of about 1890, tentatively attributed to the Paris workshop of Jules Richard, has entered the collection.
Where a conventional aneroid conceals its movement behind a dial, the displays it entirely. Turned brass pillars, knife-edge bearings, a profiled beam, a steel helical spring and a stack of two corrugated Vidie capsules are mounted in the open on a brass plate and enclosed in a glazed mahogany case with a carrying handle. In place of a dial there are two silvered brass plates: a barometric scale graduated in London inches from 28 to 31, and a thermometer plate carrying paired Fahrenheit and centigrade arcs, the maker's mark BREVETÉ S.G.D.G. and the inscription MADE IN FRANCE.