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Lot Essay
The 'goat's head vase' is derived from a sketch illustrated in Boulton and Fothergill's pattern books preserved in the Birmingham City Archives (Pattern Book 1, p.171). The model was one of the most popular of the smaller vases and first appeared in 1769 when a Mrs Yeats ordered '1 pair of goat's head vauses light blue cheny or enamelled'. In the same year, Sir William Guise ordered a pair with blue-john bodies. Other buyers of goat's head vases include Lord Digby in 1774 and Lord Scarsdale in 1772, who paid £4.4s a pair. A pair with white marble bodies is illustrated in N.Goodison, Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton, London, 1974, fig. 124). Some examples feature 'antique' medallions depicting the head of Alexander the Great, suspended from the rim of the vase (see N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, pp. 331-333, figs. 332-333).
Closely related pairs of vases with blue john bodies were sold from The Estate of Guy Fairfax Cary, Christie's, New York, 18 October 2005, lot 554, ($54,000 including premium), another from The Collection of Benjamin Edwards III, Christie's, New York, 21-22 October 2010, lot 144 ($25,000 including premium), and another from the estate of the late Robert Moss Harris, Christie's, London, 23 May 2012, lot 304 (£51,650 including premium).
Closely related pairs of vases with blue john bodies were sold from The Estate of Guy Fairfax Cary, Christie's, New York, 18 October 2005, lot 554, ($54,000 including premium), another from The Collection of Benjamin Edwards III, Christie's, New York, 21-22 October 2010, lot 144 ($25,000 including premium), and another from the estate of the late Robert Moss Harris, Christie's, London, 23 May 2012, lot 304 (£51,650 including premium).