CONTRA-BAKBAROMETER F.x Franzi Amsterdam Ca. 1790 Holland

M&R167

CONTRA-BAKBAROMETER
Signed: F.x Franzi Amsterdam
Circa 1790
Holland

Scale
The barometer has two pewter engraved plates. The left plate has a scale in inches. Beneath this scale in a medallion the signature Barometer Thermometer en Contraleur F.x Franzi Amsterdam is engraved. The thermometer is placed beneath the signature and has a Fahrenheit and Réaumur scale. On the thermometer the minimum temperature of Amsterdam in 1740. The maximum temperature of Paris was in 1743. The right plate has on the left the scale of the center-tube in ‘Rijnlandse duimen’ and on the left a scale in inches for the “contraleur”. In the case on the right the contra-tube is placed. This tube gives a more exact indication. The barometer has a brass hand.
The two scale-plates are surmounted by two engraved vases.

Case
The mahogany veneered case is decorated with garlands. The glazed door is flanked by two black pillars with brass capital and basement.

Length: 126 cm.
Breadth: 31 cm.
Depth: 12 cm.

Literature
Bert Bolle, Barometers in beeld, page. 246, note 395.

Franzi
The Franzi brothers, Felix and Paulus worked in Amsterdam from about 1765.
Felix Franzi was born in 1738 and died in 1795 in Amsterdam. He was married and had children. 1790 he had a shop in the Kalverstraat, near the St. Luciensteeg , ‘in Engelsche, Fransche en andere galanteriewaaren’.