Jason Clarke Antiques

Description

For sale, a mid-Victorian aneroid barometer by M Pillischer of London.

Comprised of a four and a quarter inch silvered dial with the top half divided for 28 to 31 inches of barometric pressure and with Vidi type weather indications on the inner side of the dial. Pressure is related by means of a very fine blue steel pointer and a similarly fine brass set hand operated at the centre of the dial.

The lower half of the dial has a curved Fahrenheit thermometer over a finely engraved scale divided for 30 to 120 degrees. The centre is engraved to the maker, M. Pillischer, London.

The brass case being an early design with its round and ungraduated sides is perhaps more commonly associated with Bourdon type barometers but gives a lovely robust aesthetic. It maintains the majority of its original lacquer finish and original suspension ring at the top.

The retailer of this fine instrument was Moritz Pillischer, a London instrument maker of Hungarian descent who moved to England and opened his own premises in 1849. Clearly a capable maker before his arrival to the UK, Pillischer was able to secure himself a place at The Great Exhibition of 1851 where he displayed numerous wares.

Pillischer also exhibited at the London 1862 exhibition where he was awarded a prize for his microscope, Vienna in 1873 and at the 1889 Paris Exposition although by 1887 Moritz had handed the business over to his son Jacob.

The founder died in 1893 but the business continued under family ownership until 1947, it traded from 88 Bond Street for the majority of its trading life.

Circa 1860