Note: The lantern retains the original mirror plate and curved glass front.

This type of lantern was produced in relatively large numbers and in use until the arrival of electricity at which point most of them became obsolete Today only a relatively small number of lanterns survive.

This lantern was acquired recently across the Atlantic in the US which may well be its first home because early in the 18th century items like this lantern that included materials that were more difficult to produce like the mirror plate and the curved glass fronts were still being imported to the US from Britain and often offered for sale through advertisements in the local press. One such example is in the Boston News-Letter. The oldest continuously published paper in the US.
The Boston News-Letter, 7. September 1719.