Clocks · Lantern clock
17th Century Anglo-dutch Lantern Clock, c. 1685–1690
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1685–1690
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- England or Holland
- Object type
- Lantern clock
- Dimensions
- Height 41 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 64
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 64)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 17TH CENTURY ANGLO-DUTCH LANTERN CLOCK (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 64), this is a lantern clock, made in England or Holland, dated c. 1685–1690. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 41 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Howard Walwyn
A fine Anglo-Dutch lantern clock with unusual front swinging cowtail pendulum. The dial has an elaborately engraved centre with Tudor Rose and finely pierced iron hand. The well engraved front fret is of a lion and a unicorn facing each other. The design of the plain side frets is a simplified version of the front. The short duration movement has a verge escapement and a very unusual front swinging ‘cowtail’ pendulum. The clock sounds the hours on a single bell with outside countwheel strike. Height: 16 in (41 cm) including finial
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Lantern, chamber and Gothic clocks
Domestic weight-driven clocks were made in southern Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Flanders from the fifteenth century. These 'Gothic' or chamber clocks have an open iron frame with corner posts, a verge escapement controlled by a foliot or balance wheel, and often an alarm or hour striking on a bell mounted above.
In England the lantern clock appeared around 1600: a brass posted-frame clock with a bell on top under decorative frets, hung on a hook or set on a wall bracket. After about 1658 many were converted to pendulum control, so originality of the escapement is a key question for any surviving example.
What to look for
- Iron (continental) or brass (English) posted frames with turned corner pillars and finials.
- A single hour hand — minute hands are rare before the pendulum era.
- Evidence of conversion: plugged holes, replaced escapement wheels or later pendulums.
- Fret designs and engraving on the dial centre, which help date English lantern clocks.
Dating clues
- Continental Gothic chamber clocks: c. 1450–1650.
- English lantern clocks: c. 1600–1720, with provincial examples later.
- Short 'bob' pendulum conversions after 1658; long pendulums with anchor escapement after c. 1670.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:FoliotAnchor (recoil) escapement
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