Accession No
2236
Brief Description
Liege / Dutch water barometer (’Donderglas’, aka thunder-glass), 1700-1800 (c)
Origin
Netherlands
Maker
Class
meteorology
Earliest Date
1700
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
glass
Dimensions
length 264mm; breadth 105mm; height 95mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from H. Wynter. Purchased with the assistance of a grant-in-aid administered by the Science Museum. From the collection of Greppin.R 1899-1969.
Inscription
Description Notes
Liege / Dutch water barometer (’Donderglas’, aka thunder-glass), 1700-1800 (c).
Glass (lacking glass suspension loop at the top), reservoir shaped like an ovoid, elongated at the top with the back flattened. Circular knob at the top and bottom. Maximum width 100 mm, max depth 60 mm. Four decorative strips of glass applied to the reservoir, one on the limb. The decoration has protuberances pinched out of the glass at approx. 15 mm intervals. Raised indicator marks on body and spout.
References
Events
Description
The ‘weather glass’ or ‘water barometer’ has been made in the district around the Belgian city of Liege since the seventeenth century. In use, the pear-shaped vessel was half-filled with water and suspended by a string; changes in air pressure acting on the water level in the spout caused the level in the vessel to rise or fall. In practice, however, the water would expand in warm weather, so the changes in level were due to a combination of pressure and temperature.
Local glass-workers excelled in decorating these glasses with all sorts of glass buttons or (as here) pinches, which acted as a sort of scale. These glasses are still made today, though they are now seen to be ornamental rather than of scientific value.
26/03/2008
Created by: Dr. Anita McConnell on 26/03/2008
FM:43440
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