Glass and Mercury Antique Hydrometer in Original Wooden Box linen pillowcases with a few small hairline

with a few small hairline cracks around the neck of the crane on side 1 and one scrape to the surface of the lower section of the planter on side 2

painted on panel as well as its surrounding frame

with bright orange body

Widely collected by museums

Glass and Mercury Antique Hydrometer in Original Wooden Box linen pillowcases with a few small hairlineAt first I thought this antique Griebel Instrument Co. hydrometer was an old thermometer, until I noted that the numbers on the side run 0 to 6 rather than showing temperatures. Ive since learned that a hydrometer is used for measuring the relative density of liquids based on buoyancy: you pour liquid into a container, lower the hydrometer into it until it floats, and then the point at which the surface of the liquid touches the stem of the hydrometer