Clocks · Lantern clock
Lantern clock by Joseph Hocker, Reading, c. 1710
- Maker / attribution
- Joseph Hocker (maker)
- Date
- c. 1710
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Place
- Reading
- Object type
- Lantern clock
- Dimensions
- Height 18.5 cm
- Stock no.
- SKU 59
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Howard Walwyn (SKU 59)
- Catalogue title (original)
- JOSEPH HOCKER. QUEEN ANNE PERIOD LANTERN CLOCK WITH ALARM AND HOUR STRIKE. (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Howard Walwyn Fine Antique Clocks (dealer), London (stock number SKU 59), this is a lantern clock by Joseph Hocker, made in Reading, United Kingdom, dated c. 1710. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: Height 18.5 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 small Queen Anne period lantern clock with alarm and hour strike on a bell. The 4 ¼ inch arched dial has an unusual foliate engraved dial centre and engraved corners instead of the more usual raised gilt spandrels. It has a raised chapter ring with Roman numerals for the hours and fleur-de-lys half-hour markers. There is a central alarm disc engraved with a Tudor Rose and a band of Arabic numerals for setting the alarm times. The finely wrought and well-pierced steel single hand appears to be original. Height: 7 ¼ in (18.5 cm) Width: 4 ¼ in (11 cm) Depth from wall: 5 in (13 cm) * Joseph Hocker is listed on page 380 of Brian Loomes’ Clockmakers of the World: 21st Century Edition as working in Reading between 1682 and 1729. Signed / Inscribed Joseph Hocker Reading
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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