A lantern clock is a type of antique weight-driven
wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including:
* Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the sup ...
clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
, shaped like a
lantern. They were the first type of clock widely used in private homes.
They probably originated before 1500 but only became common after 1600;
in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
around 1620. They became obsolete in the 19th century.
Origin of the name
There are two theories of the origin of the name "lantern clock". One is that it refers to brass, the main metal of which English lantern clocks are made. Clocks were first made on the continent, at first of iron with iron wheels, and then later with brass wheels. Later still, in France, Belgium and The Netherlands, clocks began to be made from brass.
[Robey, J.A., "Iron Crossings and Brass Rims", The Horological Journal, British Horological Institute, Newark, England,July 2015] Brass alloys were then called
latten
Historically, the term "latten" referred loosely to the copper alloys such as brass
or bronze
that appeared in the Middle Ages and through to the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Such alloys were used for monumental brasses, in decorative effect ...
, and it seems likely that brass clocks would have been called "latten clocks" (or "latten horloge" or "latten uhr" in the native languages) to distinguish them from iron clocks, and that "lantern" could be an English interpretation or corruption of latten. The other is that the name derived from the shape; the clock resembles a rectangular lantern of that period, and like a lantern was hung on the wall.
In inventories of deceased clockmakers, lantern clocks are usually referred to as "house clocks", "chamber clocks" or simply "clocks", since in 17th century England they were almost the only type of domestic clocks that existed. It was only after a century had passed, when other types of domestic clocks began to be used in British houses, that more descriptive names for it appeared. Other names used for lantern clocks are "bedpost", "birdcage" or "Cromwellian" clocks. "Sheep's head clock" was a nickname term for a type of lantern clock that had an extremely large chapter ring covering almost the entire front.
Origin of lantern clocks
The English lantern clock is closely related to lantern clocks that can be found on the European continent. A group of craftsmen from the Low Lands (Flanders) and France, of which some were clockmakers, had established themselves in London at the end of the 16th century. At the same time the middle classes in towns and cities of England began to prosper and the need arose for domestic clocks. Until that time clocks in English houses were confined to the nobility; ordinary people were dependent on sundials, or the tower clocks of local churches.
It is generally accepted that the first lantern clocks in England were made by Frauncoy Nowe and Nicholas Vallin, two Huguenots who had fled from the Low Lands.
Style characteristics
Lantern clocks were made almost entirely of
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
, whereas most earlier clocks had been constructed from iron and wood. Typical lantern clocks comprised a
square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
case on ball or
urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
feet, a large
circular
Circular may refer to:
* The shape of a circle
* ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega
* Circular letter (disambiguation)
** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement
* Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy
* Circular ...
dial (with a chapter ring extending beyond the width of the case on early examples), a single hour hand, and a large
bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
and
finial. The clocks usually had ornate pierced
fretwork
Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly use ...
on top of the frame.
The main style characteristics of English lantern clocks are similar to its Continental relatives: a wall clock with square bottom and top plates surmounted by a large bell, four corner pillars, a series of vertical plates positioned behind each other and a 30-hour movement with one or more weights. At the start of the 17th century, the style gradually evolved to a standard to which all clockmakers more or less complied. The guild supervised the clockmakers, who were compelled to work within a prescribed method. Suppliers to the clockmakers' trade contributed to this general style as well. For example, the brass founders supplied stylistically identical clock posts to several clockmakers. In contrast to the Dutch variants, such as stool clocks, English lantern clocks were entirely made of metal (brass and steel).
Lantern clocks were originally weight-driven: usually one weight for time keeping and a second for striking. A few later lantern-style clocks were constructed with spring mechanisms, and many surviving examples of the original weight-driven type have been converted to spring or pendulum mechanisms.
Guild system
In only a few decades the lantern clock became very popular in London, and from there its popularity spread to the entire country. This is evident from the large number of lantern clocks that still exist. Dozens of
clockmakers
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...
produced great numbers of these clocks in the city of London during the 17th century. This huge productivity was the result of the high demand for this popular clock in combination with an effective
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
system. In 1631 King Charles I granted a charter for a clockmaker guild in London: the
Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a royal charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The c ...
, which exists to this day. Many of the well-known clockmakers from that era were freemen of this guild. Many small companies were established in Lothbury in London that functioned as suppliers for the clockmakers. A clockmaker could benefit from the services of brass founders who supplied cast brass clock parts, dial plates, finials, pillars, frets etc., or employ engravers who would carry out the engraving of the dial plates and frets. The guild assured the quality of the products that left the clockmakers' workshops. Before a clockmaker could become a freeman, able to set up his own shop, he had to spend 7 years as an apprentice learning the trade. This ensured independent clockmakers a plentiful supply of apprentices, who were also cheap labourers who helped to attain this high productivity.
Influence of the Renaissance
Style characteristics were copied from prints that were available for craftsmen. Under the influence of the Renaissance, prints with motives and patterns from the Classical antiquity found their way to the workshops. They served as examples for the clock pillars that were inspired by columns from Greek temples. During the 17th century the tulip became very popular to an extent of a real tulip mania. Prints with pictures of tulips were a rewarding subject for the adornment of the dial plates of lantern clocks. In the early 17th century, lantern clocks got their characteristic shape, which hardly changed during the 17th and halfway through the next century as a result of all this.
Clock parts
The London Clockmakers equipped their lantern clocks with four pillars inspired by classical columns. Attached to these pillars are classical vase-shaped finials and well-shaped feet. To those finials a bell strap is attached that spreads from four corners and holds a bell. To hide the hammer and the clock movement from the spectator three frets are attached to the finials. The front fret is pierced and engraved whereas the two side frets are pierced but usually left blank. The front of the clock case consists of an engraved dial plate on which a circular dial ring is attached. Almost all lantern clocks originally had just one clock hand to indicate the hours. A standard lantern clock strikes the hours on a large bell and is often equipped with an alarm that rings the same bell. Two doors provide access to the movement and are hinged at the sides of the clock. One or more weights are hanging from ropes or chains at the bottom of the clock.
Obsolescence
Lantern clocks were produced in vast numbers during the decades before the pioneering invention of the pendulum by the Dutch scientist
Christiaan Huygens in 1656. Before this invention, lantern clocks used a
balance wheel
A balance wheel, or balance, is the timekeeping device used in mechanical watches and small clocks, analogous to the pendulum in a pendulum clock. It is a weighted wheel that rotates back and forth, being returned toward its center position by a ...
lacking a
balance spring
A balance spring, or hairspring, is a spring attached to the balance wheel in mechanical timepieces. It causes the balance wheel to oscillate with a resonant frequency when the timepiece is running, which controls the speed at which the wheels of ...
for their timekeeping element, which limited their accuracy to perhaps 15 minutes per day. Shortly after Huygens' invention, the bob pendulum was introduced in England, and most English clockmakers adopted the new system quickly. The pendulum increased the accuracy of clocks so greatly that many existing clocks were converted, with pendulums being added at the back. Measuring time became much more accurate, but most clockmakers kept building lantern clocks without minute hands: this maybe just a matter of tradition. The result was that clockmakers started to develop other types of domestic clocks. Longcase clocks with 8-day movements made lantern clocks obsolete, and gradually lantern clocks disappeared from the London interiors in the first decades of the 18th century. In rural areas lantern clocks were produced until the beginning of the 19th century, and in those years they were also exported to countries like Turkey, and supplied with oriental numbers on their dials. In the Victorian era there was a revival of interest in antique lantern clocks. Unfortunately this also meant that many clocks of renowned makers were stripped of their movements, which were replaced by 'modern' winding movements. Nowadays unmodified original lantern clocks are very rare.
References
* Hana, W.F. ''English Lantern Clocks''
* White, George ''English Lantern Clocks''
* Jeff Darken & John Hooper ''English 30 Hour Clocks'' Penita Books (1997)
External links
English Lantern ClocksAntique Clocks - pictures of many lantern clocksThe Worshipful Company of Clockmakers of London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lantern Clock
Clock designs
Antiques
Time measurement systems