W4 Wall Lantern

A subtly exotic wall lantern with a pagoda top and pretty scrolling perforations in the chimney, reflecting the Regency period’s obsession with chinoiserie decoration. A grand addition to a doorway, porch or entrance hall, particularly opulent when mounted as a pair! The W4 comes in three sizes, each with a glass door that opens out with a little wire loop handle that slides upwards.

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The traditions of tin smithing have been around for hundreds of years – we have all heard of the tinker who would travel from place to place repairing pots and pans, and less of us maybe have heard of the peddler, who would bring the tin goods to market. The job of the tinsmith, tin-maker, or the tin’ker, was to work the tin by hammering it onto sheet iron – a laborious skill that gave the metal a newfound strength and anti-rust properties.

Our lanterns are made in the very same traditional process that a tinsmith would have employed. We sometimes use tin for lanterns that are going to be used indoors. Tin today is, sadly, no longer as beautifully made and as a result no longer as tough, so more suitably we use brass and copper for external lanterns, to suit the elements of the outdoors.

Very little electrical machinery (virtually none) is used to create each lantern. The profiles are cut by hand, using hand tools such as a guillotine and a manual folder. The more the metal is worked, the harder and stronger it gets. Profiles and folds are added too, creating a further structural strength to each finished lantern. Inside, the convex brass reflector has been hammered out by hand, the convex shape raised over a sandbag, with a finish that – as the name suggests – perfectly reflects the light.

Our lanterns are Made by Howe to order with unrivalled care and precision by a dedicated team of craftsmen. You can choose for the inner reflectors to be either brass or nickel, and the inside and outside can be painted for internal or external use in a colour (or, colours!) of your choice, or, made with an unpainted brass body. The wiring can be tailored to inside, outside, UK, European and USA. On enquiring, please do give us a good idea on these specifications. And the thought and care extends even further than that – each lantern comes supplied with an install template. Instructions and screws allow for easy mounting, so we hope for no marital or family spats and arguments in the process!