Portable barometer
ca. 1695
Medium
Ivory, gilt bronze; mercury
Dimensions
Overall: 38 × 8 1/2 × 7 in. (96.5 × 21.6 × 17.8 cm)
Classification
Scientific Instruments-Barometers and Thermometers
Culture
British, London
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
Accession Number
64.101.878
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 17th scientific innovation with Daniel Quare's *Portable Barometer*, crafted around 1695 in London. Renowned English clockmaker Daniel Quare, celebrated for his intricate repeating watches, turned his mastery to meteorological instruments. This rare piece exemplifies the era's fusion of utility and luxury, designed as a portable device for gentlemen scholars to gauge atmospheric pressure and predict weather—vital in an age before modern forecasts. Housed in a finely wrought case of ivory and gilt bronze, measuring an impressive 38 × 8½ × 7 inches, the barometer ...