{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O52903"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O52903/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL5365/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL5365/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AL5365","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KX0642","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O52903/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O52903","accessionNumber":"W.16:1, 2-1958","objectType":"Barometer","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>The barometer is a device that records atmospheric changes and forecasts the weather. Barometers first appeared in England in about 1660 and were widespread by about 1730. In this example, the dial is fixed to the equator of an armilliary sphere, a skeletal globe made up of rings representing various longitudes and latitudes. Ingenious and unorthodox variations of dials were sometimes used on clocks of this period, but very rarely if ever on barometers. <br><br> <b>People </b><br>The barometer was made by the firm of Benjamin Vulliamy, clockmaker to George III.  The pedestal was probably made by the London firm of Thomas Brownley, who specialised in clock cases.  It was probably decorated by Thomas Bromley, a decorative painter. The biscuit figures are based on models that are likely to have been made by John Deare (1759-1798). He was a sculptor from Liverpool and the youngest Royal Academy gold medallist of his day. From 1785 until his death, Deare enjoyed a very successful career in Rome. <br><br><b>Subjects Depicted</b><br>The figures looking at the barometer are the Roman goddess Venus and her son, Cupid. On the wooden pedestal is the goddess Diana, derived from a carved roundel on the Arch of Constantine in Rome.","physicalDescription":"A barometer of marble with gilt-brass mounts and figure of Astronomy holding an orrery and a cupid holding a sextant in Derby biscuit porcelain, on a tall plinth veneered in satinwood and mahogany, with a painted oval in brown monochrome showing Diana in her chariot with a flying cupid holding the reins and a river god in the foreground. The dial of the barometer is formed as an armillary sphere. The front and sides of it pedestal are set with Wedgwood plaques  of Diana in her chariot and Bellerophone with Pegasus. On the marble base are a sextant, a telescopr, books and scrolls. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Vulliamy, Benjamin","id":"A8958"},"association":{"text":"designed and made","id":"x28674"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"satinwood","id":"AAT12451"},{"text":"mahogany","id":"AAT12221"},{"text":"marble","id":"AAT11443"},{"text":"gilt-brass","id":"x38746"},{"text":"biscuit porcelain","id":"AAT242297"}],"techniques":[{"text":"cabinet-making","id":"AAT53607"},{"text":"veneering","id":"AAT53878"},{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"},{"text":"modelling","id":"AAT53130"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Barometer of marble and gilt brass, with plaques of Wedgwood porcelain, on a tall plinth, veneered in satinwood and mahogany, with a central painted medallion.","categories":[{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Clocks & Watches","id":"THES48976"},{"text":"Woodwork","id":"THES48877"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[{"text":"Neo-classicism","id":"x38958"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AL5365","2018KX0642"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"118E (VA)","id":"THES49228"},"free":"","case":"PL7","shelf":"","box":"53"},{"current":{"text":"118E (VA)","id":"THES49228"},"free":"","case":"PL7","shelf":"","box":"53"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Barometer","id":""}],[{"text":"Pedestal","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c. 1787","earliest":"1782-01-01","latest":"1791-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The clock that is a pair to this barometer (W.15-1958) is dated 1787"}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"W.16:1-1958","id":"O52903"},"association":"Pair"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"173","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"48.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"20","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Vulliamy London on gilt bronze  base of plinth; horizontal band of Armillary sphere inscribed: 31 FAIR 30 CHANGE/ ABLE 29 RAIN 28; vertical band inscribed:\nAries, Taurus, Cancer, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Saggitarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, with corresponding zodiac signs","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":"A8877"},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"This and it pair (W.15-1958) almost certainly made in London by Vulliamy & Son; figures bought form the the Derby porcelain factory. The clocks and barometers sold by the firm of Vulliamy were the result of an extraordinary design and manufacturing effort, co-ordinated by Benjamin Vulliamy. He not only drew on the skills of a pool of designers, modellers and specialist makers, but also used his own library of illustrated books for design ideas. Stand probably made in London by Thomas Brownley, (active 1768-1803), and painted by John Bromley, (active 1768-1803)","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"A barometer of marble with gilt-brass mounts and figure of Astronomy and a cupid in Derby biscuit porcelain, on a tall plinth veneered in satinwood and mahogany, with a painted oval in brown monochrome showing Diana in her chariot with a flying cupid holding the reins and a river god in the foreground.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Roger Smith 'Benjamin Vulliamy's painted satinwood clocks and pedestals' Apollo, June 1995 pp.25-33."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Alison Kelly, 'A Clockmaker's Taste for Ceramics', <i>Country Life</i>, 15 June 1967 (vol. CXLI no. 3667), pp. 1526-8, this and its pair illustrated as figs. 2 and 3."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Tomlin, Maurice, <u>Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture </u>(London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972), cat. no. N/12, p. 115"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"figures","id":"AAT189808"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"BAROMETER\r\nENGLISH; about 1787\r\nDerby porcelain, marble, and ormolu.\r\n\r\nSigned by Benjamin Vuillamy (1775-1820) and en suite with clock (Museum No. W.15-1958).\r\n\r\nPlinth painted with Diana driving her chariot.","date":{"text":"pre October 2000","earliest":null,"latest":"2000-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["W.16:1-1958","W.16:2-1958"],"accessionNumberNum":"16","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1958,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Barometer","Pedestal"],"assets":["2019LN0739","2019LR0434","2019LU1681","2019LV7869","2019LV6522","2019LV6367"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2001-01-24","availableToBook":false}}