Live Auction 21043The Collection of Sir Nicholas Goodison - British Art: Innovation and Craftsmanship
JOHN RUSSELL, FALKIRK, BEFORE 1811
Lot 175

JOHN RUSSELL, FALKIRK, BEFORE 1811

A SCOTTISH GEORGE III WHEEL BAROMETER

Closed25 May 2022

Estimate

GBP 25,000–40,000

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JOHN RUSSELL, FALKIRK, BEFORE 1811
A SCOTTISH GEORGE III WHEEL BAROMETER
The case with writhen gilt-brass border and Prince of Wales feathers finial, verre eglomisé panels below the dial and about the thermometer, the painted 10-inch dial with brass borders to main and subsidiary dials, gilt brass hands, the upper subsidiary dial enabling readings to .001", the lower a recording dial, sealed glass float, mercury thermometer with silvered plate engraved with Réaumur, Fahrenheit and Royal Society scales set in upper trunk, dial signed 'J. Russell Falkirk Invenit et Fecit Watch Maker to His R.H. The Prince of Wales', the thermometer signed 'Ino. Russell Falkirk'
Mahogany, brass and verre eglomisé
46 in. (116.8 cm.) high; 13 in. (33 cm.) wide; 3 in. (7.6 cm.) deep

Acquired from Hotspur, March 1976.

Specialist note


John Russell (circa 1745-1817) opened a shop in Kirk Wynd, Falkirk in 1770. He was one of the most famous watch and clockmakers of his day. Such was the quality of his work that he was appointed Watchmaker to the Prince of Wales (later George IV), the title changing to 'Watchmaker to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent' on the establishment of the Regency in 1811. Thanks to the maker’s eagerness to display his appointments this wheel barometer can be dated prior to 1811, when the Prince of Wales became the Prince Regent. Several other barometers of this design survive which advertise the appointment to the Prince Regent and can be dated post 1811, including one in the Victoria & Albert Museum and one in the Royal Collection (RCIN 2769). Russell's sophisticated wheel barometers are fully discussed and illustrated in Sir Nicholas Goodison's second edition of Barometers (1977, pp. 229-236).