Hi Ben,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

The name Manticha is highly regarded among collectors of antique scientific instruments and refers not to an English family, but to a family of Italian immigrant barometer makers who worked in London during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Their instruments are considered among the finest examples of the early English wheel and stick barometer tradition.

The best-known maker was Dominick (or Dominic) Manticha, who is recorded as working in London from approximately 1781 to 1805, primarily in Ely Court, Holborn. He was one of a group of skilled Italian craftsmen who brought Continental techniques and decorative styles to England.

Another member of the family, Peter Manticha, worked from Crown Feathers Court, Holborn, and is generally recorded as active from about 1790 until around 1820. His signed barometers are also highly regarded and are somewhat less common than Dominick's.

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 George III mahogany and satinwood stick barometer
probably made by Dominic Manticha, London, dated 1790
With broken molded pitch-pediment centering a pineapple or acorn finial over a brass face plate inscribed "Manticha fecit" and register, the waisted case with satinwood panel, the circular cistern with compass-star inlay.
38 inches overall length
CONDITION: this appears to be in good condition; not examined and working condition not warranted
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$ 300-500*
*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