W.H. Pepys-Type Gas Holder With Bell Jar, English, c. 1810

Large metal cylindrical container with two taps on either side and a third tap on top, leading to a wide metal tray which is attached to the base via four supporting pillars. A large bell jar is placed on top of the tray, covering two aperture that lead from the cylinder beneath.

This apparatus was recorded in Professor Charles Daubeny's inventory of 1823, and was therefore part of the equipment of the Ashmolean Museum's chemical laboratory. The design was published by W.H. Pepys jun, Description of a new gas-holder, Philosophical Magazine, 13 (1802), 153-155, with a plate.