Jason Clarke Antiques

Description

For sale, a rare Victorian large scale white porcelain wall thermometer by Negretti & Zambra of London

Measuring twenty one inches in height and five inches wide, this example is comprised entirely of a moulded porcelain scale plate with black painted scale showing Fahrenheit measurements either side of a red spirit thermometer. The bulb of the scale is protected by a brass grill at the base.

In very fine condition, there is no damage to the scale plate and the painted scale remains clear and vibrant throughout. A very good example of a rare design of thermometer.

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 1890