Jason Clarke Antiques

Description

For sale, a nineteenth century oak backed, ceramic scale wall thermometer by Negretti & Zambra.

This charming wall thermometer measures 29cms in height and 6cms in width with brass suspension loop at the top. The ceramic plate marked to the top with “Negretti & Zambra, London” sits flush into the wooden base and the painted scale measures 20 to 110 degrees of Fahrenheit. To the left hand side are markers for Blood Heat, Summer Heat, Temperate and Freezing. The thermometer has a generous sized bulb with large bore for ease of reading.

A nice example of a style that Negretti produced throughout the nineteenth century, the style was first presented in their iconic “Treatise on Meteorological Instruments” publication, first produced in the 1864.

Negretti & Zambra were a leading name in the production of meteorological and scientific instruments and had a company history dating back to 1850 although their parents were amongst those Italian emigres that bolstered the British meteorological instrument making industry at the turn of the century.

Throughout their long and esteemed history they exhibited at British and international industrial fairs and became makers to both Queen Victoria and Edward VII. Owing to changes in the business, the firm ceased the public retailing of scientific instruments sometime around the late 1960’s and continued with a focus on the aviation industry in numerous guises until its eventual liquidation in the year 2000. They are today perhaps the most collected of the scientific instrument firms which bears testament to the quality of their work.

Circa 1870