In the 19th century, a popular thing for your desk would be a postal scale, after dealing with your correspondence you could pop your mail onto these small scale to establish the weight, and then place the appropriate stamps on the letter, this way when a member of staff took the mail to the postoffice there would be no need to carry money.
 
This is a small spring balance scale on an ornate cast brass base, with a hollow brass column containing a spring, the column has an indicator and moves down once pressure is applied to the pan. The manufacturer's name is embossed into the column "Joseph and Edmund Radcliffe" interestingly, this scale was made by an English company for a continintal firm as the indicator is marked in centremetres.
 
The brass is in very good condition and has no rubbing to the lettering. The pan has been replaced at sometime, quite likely a long time ago.
 
Dimensions:16cm high x 7cm wide