Tabletop weather station; Possibly England, c. 1920.

Tabletop weather station; Possibly England, c. 1920.
Gilt and silvered bronze.
It works.
It has a clock, aneroid barometer, thermometer and hydrometer.
Preserves key.
Measurements: 49 x 18,5 x 19,5 cm.
Tabletop weather station that is part of the European tradition of scientific instruments for domestic use during the first decades of the twentieth century. In this period, technical progress and the growing popularization of scientific knowledge favored the integration of measuring devices in private spaces, especially in offices, libraries and study cabinets.
Formally, the piece adopts a vertical architectural structure, evocative of a classic tower or pavilion, which reinforces its symbolic character as an object of control of time and atmospheric phenomena. The use of gilded and silvered bronze, in addition to conferring solidity and durability, responds to a clear aesthetic intention, aligned with the taste of the urban bourgeoisie and with the English tradition of combining functionality and elegance in scientific instruments.
The integration of clock, aneroid barometer, thermometer and hydrometer in a single body evidences a unitary conception of meteorological knowledge, understanding climate and weather as interrelated variables. The aneroid barometer, widely diffused from the 19th century onwards, reflects the modernization of measurement systems compared to the old mercury models.