Joseph Merlin (1735 – 1803)
Joseph Merlin was a Belgian inventor, clock-maker, musical-instrument maker, and Freemason, who moved to London in 1760 and became famous for his mechanical and musical creations.
From Huy to Paris: The Beginnings of a Genius Mechanic
Joseph Merlin was born on 6 September 1735, in Huy, in Belgium – that’s near Liège, in the French speaking part of Belgium. His parents were Maximilien Joseph Merlin, a blacksmith, and Marie-Anne Levasseur.
Merlin showed an early talent for mechanics and music. He learned to play several instruments, such as the violin, the harpsichord, and the guitar. He also studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy, and became interested in the scientific developments of his time.
From age 19 to 25, Merlin lived in Paris, where he was involved in the Paris Academy of Sciences. He also worked as a clock-maker and a musical-instrument maker, where he made several improvements to existing instruments.
London: The Ingenious Partnership of Merlin and Cox
Merlin arrived in England on 24 May 1760, as a technical advisor to the new Spanish Ambassador to London, Joaquín Atanasio Pignatelli de Aragón y Moncayo, conde de Fuentes.
He soon established himself as a skilled and ingenious mechanic, and attracted the attention of several patrons and customers, including in the royal family, the aristocracy, and the scientific community.
By 1766, Merlin was working as a mechanician with British jeweller and goldsmith James Cox, who was famous for his elaborate and expensive pieces of jewellery, clocks, and automata, which he displayed and sold in his museum in Spring Gardens.
Merlin helped Cox to create some of his most remarkable works, such as:
Cox’s Barometric Clock,
which used changes in air pressure to power it,
And
The Silver Swan,
a life-size automaton of a swan that could swim, preen, and catch a fish in a glass tank.
Merlin also acted as a manager and curator of Cox’s museum, which became a popular attraction for the fashionable and curious visitors of London between 1772 and 1775.
Merlin continued to invent and improve various mechanical and musical devices, such as clocks, watches, automata, musical boxes, and instruments.
He opened his own museum in Princes Street, Hanover Square, in 1783, where he displayed and sold his creations. He called it ‘Merlin’s Mechanical Museum’, and it became a meeting-place for the gentry and nobility, as well as a source of inspiration and education for other inventors and artists.
Inventions of Merlin’s include: a communication system for summoning servants, and a prosthetic device for “persons born with stumps only”, Whist cards for the blind, a pump for expelling “foul air”, a pedal-operated revolving tea table, a mechanical chariot with an early form of odometer, and…
The Skeleton Clock
Ah, hmmm, no.
Did you know?
A skeleton clock is a timepiece that features an open, transparent design, displaying its inner mechanical workings, typically with minimal or no casing, and allows viewers see the clockwork mechanism.
It is the earliest known skeleton table clock. Merlin probably created the clock for exhibition, rather than for sale and may have displayed it at his ‘Mechanical Museum’. He likely chose a skeleton design to allow potential customers to appreciate his ingenious and experimental approach to clockmaking.
This one then:
Beside being a prolific inventor, Merlin was a also flamboyant showman. He often appeared at society balls and gatherings in eccentric garb, promoting his latest inventions, seizing every opportunity to promote his business,
He had a lot of friends and loved to entertain guests with his musical performances, flattering the ladies at every turn with his witty and charming personality.
It seems he kept an accent, though, and as a French speaking person in this country, I can only relate to this comment about the man:
“Merlin, a Belgian, had an extensive English vocabulary, but often put the words in the wrong order and “had an unerring habit of stressing the wrong syllable.”
😬
The Roller Skate
Merlin spectacularly presented his new invention to the public in 1760, during a masquerade party at Carlisle House, in Soho Square: a pair of metal wheels attached to a wooden sole, with leather straps to secure the foot.
He intended to use them as a means of transportation and recreation, and to demonstrate his skill and agility.
Thomas Busby, the English composer, described the incident in his ‘Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes’ (1805):
“One of his ingenious novelties was a pair of ‘skaites’ contrived to run on small metallic wheels. Supplied with a pair of these and a violin, he mixed in the motley group of one of the celebrated Mrs. Corneily’s masquerades at Carlisle-house, Soho-square;
when, not having provided the means of retarding his velocity, or commanding its direction, he impelled himself against a mirror, of more than five hundred pounds’ value, dashed it to atoms, broke his instrument to pieces, and wounded himself most severely.”
The incident caused a great commotion and amusement among the spectators, and made Merlin and his roller skates famous.
This incident is even featured in an episode of the BBC series ‘Horrible Histories’:
The Gouty Chair
In the late 18th century, Joseph Merlin is about 60, and probably not doing much roller-skating any more, when he designs a wheelchair, for people with walking difficulties: primarily wealthy patrons suffering from gout, who could enjoy more freedom thanks to this ‘Gouty chair’.
Did you know?
It is caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood, which can form crystals in the joints.
Gout was very common in the 18th century, especially among the wealthy and powerful, who ate and drank too much foods and drinks that increased uric acid, such as meat, sugar, and alcohol.
Gout was also called the ‘disease of kings’ because many monarchs and nobles suffered from it, such as King Henry VIII, Queen Anne and King George IV.
Some evidence shows that similar chairs were used in France as early as 1751 (One of them belonged to Georges Couthon, a French politician who was part of the Revolution), but this ‘Gouty Chair’ was one of the first wheelchairs. The person using the chair turned the handles and the cogs moved the wheels:
You can see his ‘Gouty Chair’ at Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath, London.
A later design, also attributed to Merlin: ‘the invalid wheelchair’, features large wheels with outer hoops for the occupant to grasp and this one is the true ancestor of the modern wheelchair.
Merlin died on 8 May 1803, in Paddington, London, at the age of 67. He was buried at St Mary’s Church, Paddington.
He left behind a legacy of ingenious and innovative inventions, and a reputation of being one of the most original and versatile mechanics of his time. He was referred to by contemporaries as “The Ingenious Mechanic”.
He was friendly with composer Joseph Haydn, who dedicated a set of six string quartets to him. They probably met in London, which Haydn visited twice between 1791 and 1795 – see Paul’s recent blog post about Haydn for more details – Haydn also wrote a number of pieces for a mechanical clock, some of which were written after his visit to London.
Helene
