Clocks · Lantern clock
Lantern clock by Richard Ames, England, 1650–1660
- Maker / attribution
- Richard Ames (maker)
- Date
- 1650–1660
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- London
- Object type
- Lantern clock
- Materials / technique
- Brass, iron, cast, turned and pierced and engraved
- Dimensions
- Height: 350 mm; Diameter: 160 mm (clock face)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- M.49-1995
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Estella Canziani
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number M.49-1995), this is a lantern clock by Richard Ames, made in London, England, dated 1650–1660. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Brass, iron, cast, turned and pierced and engraved. Recorded dimensions: Height: 350 mm; Diameter: 160 mm (clock face). 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
Summary — Victoria and Albert Museum
An alarm lantern clock by Richard Ames, London with dolphin cresting, brass dial engraved with tulip flower and leaves, resting on ball feet and surmounted by a bell with five brass finials, circa 1650. The bells of these domestic time pieces could be heard throughout the home thus providing a central source of information on the time of day.
Physical description — Victoria and Albert Museum
This wall clock has a square bottom. with dolphin cresting at the front and sides and top plates in the form of pierced foliate strapwork featuring tulip flowers and leaves. It is surmounted by a large bell. The dial has a prominent chapter ring with large Roman numerals; a single hand to register the hours and another to register the minutes. The small dial in the middle of the main dial can be turned to set the alarm. The turned baluster finials are matched by finials either side of the top plate and surmounting the four brackets which hold the bell in place. CASE: Posted brass frame, dolphin frets above, supported on ball feet with five turned baluster finials, that above the bell has lost its upper section. The front fret signed beneath the dolphins Richard Ames London DIAL: Brass dial-plate, crudely engraved with tulip and foliage with brass chapter ring with Roman hour numerals, the alarm dial of iron, with Arabic numerals with iron hour and minute hands with fleur de lis ends.
Historical context — Victoria and Albert Museum
Designed to hang on a hook or stand on a bracket high up on the wall, this clock struck the hours on the large bell mounted at the top of the clock which could be heard all over the house.
Inscriptions & marks
Richard Ames London
Provenance
The clock was one of two clocks bequeathed by Estella Canziani; amongst thirteen objects including jewellery and silver. Canziani was an artist friend of Dr Hildburgh, a leading benefactor of the V&A.
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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