Clocks · Lantern clock
Lantern Clock - Thomas Moore, Ipswich, c. 1750
- Maker / attribution
- Mr Thomas Moore (Maker)
- Date
- c. 1750
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Ipswich, England, Great Britain
- Object type
- Lantern clock
- Dimensions
- 14 cm (Length), 14 cm (Width), 35 cm (Height)
- Holding institution
- Museums Victoria, Melbourne
- Accession / object no.
- ST 26690
- Catalogue title (original)
- Lantern Clock - Thomas Moore, Ipswich, circa 1750 (English)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Museums Victoria, Melbourne (object number ST 26690), this is a lantern clock by Mr Thomas Moore, made in Ipswich, England, Great Britain, dated c. 1750. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: 14 cm (Length), 14 cm (Width), 35 cm (Height). The record is illustrated with 6 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 — Museums Victoria
Lantern clock, made by Thomas Moore, Ipswich, circa 1750. Clock surmounted by a bell. Has two trains, for going and striking.
Inscriptions & marks
Dial is marked 'Tho Moore, Ipswich'.
Provenance
Bequest from Mrs E. M. Askew, Jul 1970
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
The age of the deadbeat escapement, compensated pendulums and observatory regulators. Domestic clocks spread through the middle classes: English longcase and bracket clocks, French gilt-bronze mantel clocks, Viennese Biedermeier wall clocks, Black Forest painted-shield clocks, and the first American shelf clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Early Modern 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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