Rare magnet stone to suspend in blued iron, bronze and brass. The magnetite, in parallelepiped block, is mounted with a mild steel armor forming the two poles, in an octagonal cage with openwork decoration. It is composed of a set of foliage around a woman's head, banner bears and guns and grenades. The two lions, lying on the shoulder, hold in their mouths chains joined by a hook from which various objects could be suspended for magnetic experiments. The decoration of our magnet probably refers to the attributes of the Demidoff family, owners of the mines where this magnet was produced. In particular to Nikita Demidoff (1656- 1725), the main supplier of the Tsar in the manufacture of halberds, cannons and rifles for the Russian army, which explains the presence of bears, the family's heraldic furniture, carrying spears and accompanied by cannons. Mines of Nizhny Tagil, Ural, Russian Empire, second half of the XVII-XVIII century. H. 37, W. 20, D. 9 cm Underneath the inscription : KA: VE: 8: FU 70 30 TTO: VE: 20: FU Attention small correction to the catalog : It is not "KA: VE: 8: FU 70 30" but "КА: ВЕ: 8: фу 70: зо" which translates exactly as "The stone weighs 8 pounds 70 zolotnik". So the weight of the stone is 3575 g. It is not: "TTO: VE: 20: FU" but "ПО: ВЕ: 20: фу" which translates to "Lifts [lifts] a weight of 20 pounds". It capable of lifting a weight of : 8191 g The lifting ratio is quite low (the pound has 96 zolotnik): (20x96) / (8x96 +70) = 2.29 30 000/ 50 000 € The cutting of the motifs is typical of the techniques used by Russian craftsmen from the Urals. Its style very The hieratic style of the two lion figures holding the chains is still very close to the 17th century models, inspired by the medieval aquamanile. The magnets manufactured in these mines could attract, support or several times their own weight. If in the XVIIIth century, they could be used to magnetize the needles of marine instruments (compasses, astrolabes, etc.), or in experiments experiments (magnetism), this is not the case with our own. In fact, the large magnets remained most often objects without any real function, intended for the offi cers of the mining service (geologists), the offi cers of the of the navy as well as in the cabinets of curiosities like that of Madame de Pompadour. This craze for curiosity, was so strong that it initiated a fashion from the middle of the century in the aristocratic circles. A very detailed description of the construction of the armor of natural magnets is given by Louis Guillaume Le Monnier in the first volume of Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie (1751). Although smaller in size, several similar magnets are preserved today. Of the 76 specimens from the collection of Akinfi Demidoff (1678-1745), two are in the Nizhny Tagil Museum and one in the Technikum of Nizhny Tagil. The Demidoffs owned deposits of magnetite and iron near The Demidoffs owned magnetite and iron deposits near Nizhny Tagil, copper mines in Neviansk, the basic minerals for the production of magnets: Magnetite for the magnet stone, iron for the mild steel armor, copper for the cage. They were also owned gold mines used for gilding. The Historical Museum in Moscow has some of them. at least 17 examples, the Hermitage Museum at least 7, one Russian-made example is in the Royal Museums of Greenwich. The National Museum of the Louvre references 3 in its collections, as well as several in its collections Polytechnic. The only piece of similar dimensions known in an institution is that of the Musée des Arts et Métiers, registered at number 04208-0001. Provenance: Probably the collection of Akinfi Demidoff (1678-1745), then his descendants. Ancient Paintings - Furniture & Works of Art, Wednesday 26 September 2012 - Europ Auction Private collection from Paris Works to bring closer : Collection of the banker Jacques Malatier (1926-2017), Wednesday 10 October 2018 - Ader