Hi Ben,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

This barometer is very closely related to one Christie's sold for €2,040 in March 2005 against an estimate of €1,200-1,800 (https://www.christies.com/lot/a-victorian-irish-marine-stick-barometer-neill-4456551/?intObjectID=4456551&lid=1) that was made by Neill brothers of Belfast, circa 1860.

Marine barometers are a distinct subcategory of mercurial (and later aneroid) barometers designed specifically to function accurately and safely on moving ships. They aren’t just “regular barometers in a case”—their engineering reflects the problem of constant motion, vibration, and changing orientation at sea.

The most obvious difference is the gimbal mount. Marine barometers are suspended in a two-axis gimbal ring system, which enables the barometer to stay vertical even when the ship rolls and pitches. This is critical because a standard mercury barometer must remain perfectly vertical to read accurately. On a ship, without gimbals, the mercury column would slosh and give false readings—or spill entirely.

With changing restrictions and regulations surrounding shipping and transporting barometers (both antique and modern) with mercury, the market for antique barometers has slipped a bit. Most auction houses will still sell them but there may be restrictions in your state about purchasing them or having them shipped into, out of or within and, accordingly, most auction houses price barometers they are selling quite conservatively, rarely above $1,000.

If you're interested in selling this or any of the other barometers you've asked us to appraise, you might reach out to British born barometer dealer John Forster, who owns Barometer Fair in Sarasota, Florida. He buys and sells all barometer varieties (stick, wheel, banjo and aneroid) and is well-known in the antiques business for paying fair prices (and you'd avoid paying an auctioneer a commission to sell them). Other US-based barometer dealers include The Barometer Shop (Rockport, Maine) and The Weather Store (Sandwich, Mass).

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An antique Victorian oak marine stick barometer
unsigned, possibly by Neill Brothers, Belfast, mid 19th Century
With brass gimbel mount and cistern cover, bone label to the top inscribed "WARRANTED CORRECT", angled bone plates and register.
36 inches overall length
CONDITION: this appears to be in good cosmetic condition; not examined or warranted to be in working condition
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$250-350*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia