Making a tin and wood lantern.

No measurements were given for the lantern, so I made some assumptions, such as the corners being 3/4” square, and scaled the rest of the dimensions from that. I used Poplar for the wooden parts and tin and 16 gauge wire for the others. As usual, I got going on the project and forgot to take enough in-process photos.

The most interesting feature of this lantern is the wire glass guards. If you look closely you can see that the top ends of the wires are wrapped through a hole in the tin top parts, then folded and inserted into the wooden bottom plate. I assume that these wires helped to hold the top in place and protect the glass panes. I added brass screws on the top and bottom to hold the corners in place.

If you have spent any time digging in the Google piles looking for period images, you must have spent some time at the 18th Century Material Culture Resource Center. This site is a wealth of information and images about just about anything 18th Century, organized into themed slide shows. One group is a few score of lantern images from museum collections, antique dealers, paintings and drawings from around the world.

One such image is of an interesting wood and tin lantern that I have been wanting to try to make for months. I finally freed up some shop time and made a couple of interpretations of the original in the photo.

I made a simple removable candle holder to finish off the project and added a yellow-ochre paint and antiqued metal finish.

There are currently two of these lanterns made up and ready to ship, and can be purchased in my store.