Clocks · Lantern clock
Lantern clock
- Maker / attribution
- Joseph Knibb (Maker)
- Date
- c. 1675
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- British, London
- Object type
- Lantern clock
- Materials / technique
- Brass
- Dimensions
- Overall: 15 × 6 × 7 in. (38.1 × 15.2 × 17.8 cm)
- Holding institution
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Accession / object no.
- 64.101.859
- Credit line
- Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964
- Catalogue title (original)
- Lantern clock (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (object number 64.101.859), this is a lantern clock by Joseph Knibb, made in British, London, England, dated c. 1675. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Brass. Recorded dimensions: Overall: 15 × 6 × 7 in. (38.1 × 15.2 × 17.8 cm). The record is illustrated with 2 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
The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.
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.
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