18th Century Lanterns
Last updated: Jan 5, 2024
Extant 18th century lanterns and 18th century depictions of lanterns are available on this page. (Links to lanterns from the Middle Ages and Renaissance are available elsewhere on this site.)
- 18th century tin lanterns at the MFA: 28.28, 28.36, 28.37, 28.38, 28.311
- A wooden lantern from Aberdeenshire; “The rectangular lantern has a sloping top and horn windows on three sides, with a door on the fourth side. It is bound all round with leather and a tab of leather, fixed to the door with studs, serves as a handle. There is a handle of twisted cord.”
- A brass lantern dated 1750, associated with the Fairbairns of Cockburnspath, East Lothain; “It may have been used to warn vessels from the rocks at Cove in East Lothian. The lantern has horn windows and is engraved 'P FAIRBAIRN COVE 1750'. There is a lighthouse and a sailing galley incised on each of the four partitions of the frame and a design of scallops and stars on the horizontal bands.”
- Hanes and Ruskin Y143; “This amazing lantern consists of an engraved glass inserted into a tin frame. Made on the Continent (20 years ago we bought a similar example, or maybe even this very one, in France) in the mid to late 18th century. It is in completely original condition, including the insert to hold a candle with its crimped bobeche and long handle so your fingers don't get burnt.”
- Colonial Williamsburg 1958-75, America, c. 1750-1850; “Tinned sheet iron lantern composed of a cylindrical body with a conical top, surmounted by a wire-mounted carrying ring”
- Colonial Williamsburg 2016-164, America, c. 1750-1850; “Tinned sheet iron lantern of unusually small size”
- Colonial Williamsburg 1963-10, England or America, 1760-1800; painted iron “Lantern with circular strap suspension ring or carrying handle with moulded face and wire swivel attachment to center of top”
- Met 34.100.188, a tin lantern with horn panes, made in Pennsylvania c. 1770
- Met 39.184.48a-d, a wall lantern in bronze with glass panes, made in England c. 1770
- A tin lantern from Orkney, late 18th or early 19th century; “The cylindrical candle lantern has been painted green. It has a hinged door on one side, a conical top and scalloped cap with a handle linked through it. The windows are made of sheet mica, and form three rows of panes. The top row is ornamented.”
- Colonial Williamsburg 2015-180, probably England, c. 1780; “Circular lantern with flat base, rectangular box-shaped hinged door with glass window; squared handle opposite door; and conical top with circular hanging ring above a square-shaped deflector/shield. Pierced with various shapes (circles, crescents, leaves, etc.) on conical top and with garland patterns on sides”
- Historic New England 1991.985, possibly c. 1780-1820; “Wood frame with chamfered and notched uprights and square chamfered edge on the top and bottom; holds four rectangular panes of glass; the top has a shaped opening and is fitted with a pierced tin panel and a wire handle; the upright post projects through the top and bottom; one side has cotter-pin hinges and a loop wire.”
- Manchester 1922.774, c. 1800; “Lantern made with iron fittings with ridged glass cylinder. The iron lid is pierced in two monotype patterns. Small round, fluted candle-holder lifts out by means of a long handle and hook.”
- The Met has a few American punched-tin lanterns dated to the 18th or 19th centuries; see 10.125.599a, 10.125.599c, and 10.125.600
- Sheet iron and horn lanterns, late 18th/early 19th centuries: Brunk Auctions Aug 1 2020, Lots 1000, 1001, and 1002
Depictions of lanterns
- An old woman counting coins, Thomas van der Wilt
- A girl places a candle in a lantern, attributed to Godfried Schalcken, c. 1690-1706
- Het Menselyk Bedryf: The Lantern Maker by Jan & Caspar Luyken, 1694
- Still life with kitchen items
- Oublieur de la ville de Paris, 1708
- A lantern seller by Edme Bouchardon, c. 1730s
- Illustration from “Love in a Nunnery,” 1735
- The Four Times of Day: Night by William Hogarth, 1736
- Satire on the Act of Parliament for the suppression of gin, c. 1736
- Fishmonger’s stall by Balthazar Nebot, 1737
- Mr Turbutt in the Character of Sosia in “Amphitryon,” c. 1740
- Illustration from Romeo and Juliet, c. 1741-1765
- La double surprise (also The Double Surprize, c. 1768-1772)
- Hob carrying Mr Friendly’s Letter to Mrs Flora and Hob’s petition to Sr Thomas to be saved from the well, c. 1745
- Industry and Idleness: The Idle Prentice Betrayed by William Hogarth, 1747
- The Four Stages of Cruelty: Cruelty in Perfection by William Hogarth, 1751
- A lantern lighter and a lantern bearer illuminates the way for two figures dressed for a masquerade, Le Arti che vanno per via nella Città di Venezia, 1753
- Count Matteo Alberti escorted by a servant holding a lantern by Antonio Maria Zanetti, before 1757
- The Kitchen by Willem Joseph Laquy, c. 1760-1771
- Young musicians, c. 1760-1780
- The Schoolmaster, c. 1760-1780
- Illustration from a story from the Heptameron by Sigmund Freudenberger, c. 1760-1781
- David Garrick and Mary Bradshaw in “The Farmers Return” by David Garrick, c. 1762
- High Life Below Stairs by John Collet, 1763
- David Garrick as Sir John Brute in Vanbrugh’s “The Provoked Wife” by Johann Zoffany, 1763-1765
- A Girl Singing Ballads by a Paper Lanthorn by Henry Morland, c. 1765-1782; The Pretty Ballad Singer by Henry Morland, c. 1768-1775
- The Fond Parents, 1766
- Arthur Wentworth of Bulmer, near Castle Howard, Yorkshire, 1767
- The Oyster Woman by Henry Morland, 1769; shows a lamp within a lantern (see also Oyster Girl and Oyster Seller)
- The letter woman, c. 1769
- Girl bundling asparagus by John Atkinson, 1771
- Still life by Jean Georges Wille, 1772
- The Anatomist Overtaken by the Watch, 1773
- The Guards of the Night Defeated, 1774
- Old Haman the Northampton-lamp-lighter, 1774
- A boy receives money from a woman by Jacob Hoolaart
- Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1774-1789
- The Fond Parents, 1776
- The Talle-Ho Parson Going in to Cover, 1778
- Paternal Love by Étienne Aubry
- Dark Lanthern Business, or Mrs Hob and Nob on a Night Canvass with a Bosom Friend, 1784
- The Westminster Canvass, 1784
- The Sad Discovery of the Graceless Apprentice, 1785
- Diogenes in Search of an Honest Man, 1787
- Inn interior with a woman and baby, 1788
- House-Breaking, before Sun-Set, 1789
- The Earth Stopper, 1790
- Caricature of a lamp-lighter, before 1791
- The Vicar and Moses, 1790s
- Fairies (Od dang it what have we got here?), 1792
- Affrightened Travellers; or, the Illuminated Turnip!, 1792
- A Night Mare, 1794
- A Salt Water Salute, 1794
- A Will'O th'Wisp, 1794
- Diogenes alias A.B. in ton looking for an Honest Lawyer!!!, c. 1794-1806
- Returning From a Rout on a Rainy Night, 1797
- Characters in a Village Alehouse, 1797
- Search-Night, or, State-Watchmen, Mistaking Honest-Men for Conspirators, 1789
- John Bull’s Watchman Neglecting his Duty!!!, 1800
- Young couple with two small children in a laundry by Sigmund Freudenberger
- Two children reading by lanternlight by Abraham van Strij
- A night watchman sees a seller of caller oſts in the Cries of Edinburgh, 1803
- The Miseries of the Country by Thomas Rowlandson
- Night Watchman by Thomas Rowlandson
- Attacking the night watchman by Thomas Rowlandson
- An Easy Reply, 1804
- The Cauldron-Scrubber by Abraham van Strij, c. 1808-1810