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Lot Essay
This model of vase, with its laurel swags after the antique and Ceres' libation paterae guilloche band was conceived as a perfume burner with a pierced lid to release the scent of aromatic herbs, and derives from an illustration in volume 1, p. 171 of Matthew Boulton's Pattern Book.
Matthew Boulton (d. 1802) established his manufactory in Soho, Birmingham and began his celebrated partnership with John Fothergill (d. 1782) in 1762. George III and Queen Charlotte were among their many illustrious patrons and a series of sales at Christie's and Ansell's Pall Mall rooms provided them with access to London's fashionable clientèle. Boulton also sought international clients, utilizing a network of local agents and ambassadors stationed abroad as tastemakers to introduce his work to various Royal Courts.
Among Boulton and Fothergill's clients was Empress Catherine of Russia, who in 1771 directed her Russian envoy to Boulton's factory to acquire objects. This appointment was subsequently followed by a delivery of vases to the English envoy in Russia which were designated for the Empress. A pair of vases, fashioned as the same model to the present lot but differing in the use of fluorspar plinths, are in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (illustrated in Catherine the Great: Art for Empire, Nathalie Bondil (ed.), Montreal, 2005, p. 129). These vases are perhaps the pair recorded in Catherine's collection in 1772, although subsequent commissions by Boulton are also recorded in in 1774 and 1776. Perhaps in reference to the present model, Catherine was reported in 1772 to have commentated Boulton's vases were 'superior to those of the French in all respect'.
A pair of perfume burners of the same model have been recorded in the collection of Pavlovsk Palace, Saint Petersburg (see A. Koutchoumov, Pavlovsk. Le Palais et le Parc, Leningrad, 1976, pl. 92), others were in the collections of the Earl of Bradford at Weston Park, Shropshire (see N. Goodison, Ormolu, The Work of Matthew Boulton, 1974, pl. 134) and Viscount Clifden, K.C.V.O (sold Christie's, London, 2 December 1966, lot 73). Further pairs sold at auction include Christie's, London, 6 July 1995, lot 27 (£37,800 including premium) and a pair from the collection of Mrs. Gabrielle Keiller, 4 July 1996, lot 278 (£58,700 including premium).
Matthew Boulton (d. 1802) established his manufactory in Soho, Birmingham and began his celebrated partnership with John Fothergill (d. 1782) in 1762. George III and Queen Charlotte were among their many illustrious patrons and a series of sales at Christie's and Ansell's Pall Mall rooms provided them with access to London's fashionable clientèle. Boulton also sought international clients, utilizing a network of local agents and ambassadors stationed abroad as tastemakers to introduce his work to various Royal Courts.
Among Boulton and Fothergill's clients was Empress Catherine of Russia, who in 1771 directed her Russian envoy to Boulton's factory to acquire objects. This appointment was subsequently followed by a delivery of vases to the English envoy in Russia which were designated for the Empress. A pair of vases, fashioned as the same model to the present lot but differing in the use of fluorspar plinths, are in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (illustrated in Catherine the Great: Art for Empire, Nathalie Bondil (ed.), Montreal, 2005, p. 129). These vases are perhaps the pair recorded in Catherine's collection in 1772, although subsequent commissions by Boulton are also recorded in in 1774 and 1776. Perhaps in reference to the present model, Catherine was reported in 1772 to have commentated Boulton's vases were 'superior to those of the French in all respect'.
A pair of perfume burners of the same model have been recorded in the collection of Pavlovsk Palace, Saint Petersburg (see A. Koutchoumov, Pavlovsk. Le Palais et le Parc, Leningrad, 1976, pl. 92), others were in the collections of the Earl of Bradford at Weston Park, Shropshire (see N. Goodison, Ormolu, The Work of Matthew Boulton, 1974, pl. 134) and Viscount Clifden, K.C.V.O (sold Christie's, London, 2 December 1966, lot 73). Further pairs sold at auction include Christie's, London, 6 July 1995, lot 27 (£37,800 including premium) and a pair from the collection of Mrs. Gabrielle Keiller, 4 July 1996, lot 278 (£58,700 including premium).