A Dutch barometer, signed on the register plate, P.S WAST Fecit Amsteldam and signed and dated on the thermometer scale, 1756 THERMOMETER Door P.S WAST. Amsteld. The burl walnut-veneered partly oak and partly pine case has silvered brass register plates. The barometer scale is divided on the left into imperial inches, with a ‘36’’-scale derived from it and into Rhineland inches on the right-hand side. On this side there is a sliding setting hand. The thermometer in front of the barometer tube can be slid upwards and has scales in degrees Réaumur and Fahrenheit. In addition unusual temperatures are indicated next to the Fahrenheit scale: ‘Utregt 9 Iuly 1733.’ (+92°), ‘Amst 27 Iuly 1750.’ (+90°), ‘Op zee onder de Linie 6 Maart 1752.’ (+86°), ‘Batavia 12 Iuly 1752.’ (+83°), ‘Batavia 17 Ian. 1753.’ (+78°), ‘Aan de Kaap 26 April 1752.’ (+68°), ‘Groenland 1 Iuli 1754.’ (+28°), ‘Dito 19 May 1755.’ (+20°), ‘Bordeaux 1740.’ (+18°), ‘Parys 1740.’ (+9°), ‘Amst. 9 Feb. 1755.’ (+6°), ‘Parys 7 Feb. 1754.’ (+5°), ‘Amst. 11 Ian. 1740’ (-2°) and ‘Upsal 1740.’ (-11°). • The maker, Paulus Wast (1721-1784), was born as Paolo Quasti in Bern in 1721. In 1741, he settled in Amsterdam as an apprentice to Frans Primavesi in the Dijkstraat. Around 1750 Paolo Quasti must have started his own business and around the same time he probably changed his name to Paulus Wast, judging from the signatures he used on his barometers. On 21 November 1758, he advertised in the Amsterdamsche Courant. He became one of the most eminent makers in The Netherlands, later in cooperation with his sons. On 8 September 1784 Paulus Wast was buried in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.