A large three-mile anchor ship’s lantern in copper and glass, English, circa 1910 49 cm high, 30 cm diameter. Provenance: British Admiralty ships while at anchor held their position by lighting an anchor lantern. Anchor Lanterns have a 360° Fresnel lens, which gives the light visibility from 2-3 miles all around, the Fresnel lens is the 1822 invention of French physicist Augustine Fresnel who invented a lens that would make his name commonplace along the seacoasts of Europe and North America. Most lenses were handmade and shipped unassembled from France. Others were made in England