Timpani Novelty Desk Barometer by James Joseph Hicks, Hatton Garden, circa 1890

Rare antique gilded and silver plate brass novelty desk barometer in the form of a orchestra Timpani or kettle drum, marked J Hicks 8,9 and 10 Hatton Gardens London, on a black polished slate base.

 

The barometer with 4 inch engraved and silvered dial marked 'Rain', 'Change', 'Fair'. Blued-steel pointer, with heavy beveled glass face. Decoratively-engraved bezel complemented with two timpani mallets, the drum bowl, with areas of patination, hung with twisted brass ropes emulating tensioning ropes, the base with registration diamond for Hicks & Sons. Supported on a tripod stand on a circular polished slate base with faux rope work surround, the base faced with the original red velvet.

​

Fully serviced.

 

James Joseph Hicks (1837 - 1916) Hatton Garden was one of the most important supplier of barometers and thermometers in London at the time. Born in Ross Carbery, County Cork, Munster, Ireland; 1852 Apprenticed to L. P. Casella of Hatton Garden, London. By 1860 he had risen to the position of foreman. This date marks the first of many patents filed by Hicks relating to meteorological and clinical thermometers also including barometers, hydrometers and radiometers, aneroid barometers and various medical appliances. From 1878 Hicks traded as an independent manufacturer, initially at 8 Hatton Garden London in the 1870s & then 8, 9, & 10 Hatton Garden from 1890s-1930s. Hicks catered to developing markets in meteorology, Industrial control instruments and military needs by the provision of scientific, Industrial, and domestic thermometers, barometers, and pressure gauges and many other types of Apparatus.