A RARE EARLY 18TH CENTURY ENGLISH BRASS DOUBLE BELL LANTERN CLOCK by Stephen Levitt (Born 1689) of Chelmsford, No 99, the double bell encased within open work panels of fish and foliage, the dial engraved with flowers and vines. 38 cm x 15 cm. Note: The English lantern clock is closely related to lantern clocks that can be found on the European continent. A group of craftsmen from the Low Lands (Flanders) and France, of which some were clockmakers, had established themselves in London at the end of the 16th century. At the same time the middle classes in towns and cities of England began to prosper and the need arose for domestic clocks. Until that time clocks in English houses were confined to the nobility; ordinary people were dependent on sundials, or the tower clocks of local churches. It is generally accepted that the first lantern clocks in England were made by Frauncoy Nowe and Nicholas Vallin, two Huguenots who had fled from the Low Lands.