A very rare Dutch counter barometer Around 1780 The mahogany case displays the typical stylistic features of the Louis XVI period. The barometer is fitted with engraved and silvered register plates. Signed BAROMETER CONTRALEUR en THERMOMETER door Joseph Molten, Amsterdam The weather conditions are indicated with the aid of the centrally positioned Torricelli tube, which shows the air pressure on a scale divided into three Rhineland inches and three English inches. The associated weather conditions are engraved on the left scale. To the right is a setting hand for indicating prevailing tendencies. The air pressure is also shown on a considerably magnified scale by a Huygens counter barometer to the right of the Torricelli tube. The mercury thermometer to the left indicates the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit en Réaumur, with an accompanying engraved text indicating the ambient conditions. Joseph Molten, originally Giuseppe Molteno, born in Berne about 1746, died after 1790, was married, had two sons, worked in Amsterdam from about 1765; workshops include a premises on the corner of Voorburgwal and Lijnbaansteeg.

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