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Lot Essay
These opulent ‘krater’ vase-candelabra are one of the definitive patterns manufactured by Matthew Boulton (d. 1809), the most significant late 18th century maker of objets de luxe in England. His creations are noted for their lavish chiselled ormolu mounts that successfully contrast with the translucent and rich purple, honey yellow and chocolate hues of the rare and highly prized blue john hardstone bodies.
This celebrated model is inspired from Greek antiquity, and features in Boulton’s metal-work Pattern Book I (dating from late 1760s) as design no. 238, preserved in the Birmingham City Museum. It appears together with a companion design for a 'cassolette' vase, lacking branches but embellished with a husk-festooned medallion (N. Goodison, Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 361, fig. 370; p. 373, fig. 371). The earliest reference to a ‘winged’ vase occurs in a letter from Boulton’s partner, John Fothergill, in which he writes that the Earl of Stamford had visited the firm’s Soho Manufactory in Birmingham and purchased ‘the winged vase’ for £12 12s 0d (ibid., p. 356). The design was evidently successful becoming one of the firm’s trademark patterns thereafter, and was also executed with Stourbridge white opaque glass in place of blue john. Several examples were included in the sale and exhibition of Boulton’s wares at Christie and Ansell's London show-rooms in April 1772, catalogued as 'Wing figured Vases'. Boulton and Fothergill’s subsequent account with William Matthews cites at least two examples of this design made of blue john, ‘For Mr Thyne, delivered from the sale… 1 wing figure vase purple stone £14 14 0’. Robert Child (d. 1782) owned a number of related vases; one pair costing £29. 8. 0, was to have been delivered to him either for Osterley Park, Middlesex or Berkeley Square, London, but was erroneously sent to the wrong buyer; another pair was sent from Soho to replace them three months later (ibid.). A pair of wing-figured vases with blue john bodies remain at Osterley Park, and are probably those described in the 1782 inventory as, ‘two elegant spar vases mounted in or moulee with double branches and statuary pedestals’. Another set of four such vases was also in Mr. Child’s collection, listed in the Drawing Room as ‘four spar vases mounted with or molee’ (ibid., p. 362).
MATTHEW BOULTON: PURVEYOR OF LUXURY GOODS
Boulton opened his Soho Manufactory with John Fothergill in 1762. In a period when most firms comprised small industrial units engaged in complex systems of sub-contracting, the partners modernised manufacturing methods bringing together all mechanical processes with each specialised aspect of production, such as drawing, gilding and burnishing, in different studios. Through these improved production methods, the factory expanded its repertoire from producing buttons and small metal objects to encompass a wide variety of luxury goods in decorative metal ware. Josiah Wedgwood described Boulton in 1767 as 'the most complete manufacturer in England in metal'. In 1765, Boulton visited Paris where he observed first-hand the output of the acclaimed Parisian bronziers. Following this visit he became determined to challenge their dominance in the ormolu market, and in 1768 a specialised department was created for the large-scale production of ormolu.
With his jewel-like objects acquired by important patrons, including King George III, Boulton enjoyed a reputation for producing the most luxurious ormolu goods in the country. A series of sales at Christie's in the 1770s provided him with further access to London's fashionable clientele. He also sought international clients, utilising a network of local agents and ambassadors stationed abroad as ‘tastemakers’ to introduce his work at various Royal Courts, such as the Court of Catherine the Great. His Soho Manufactory became a place of pilgrimage for fashionable society, and in 1767 Boulton boasted, 'Last week we had Prince Poniatowski, nephew of the King of Poland, and the French, Danish and Dutch ambassadors; this week we have the Count Orloff and five celebrated brothers who are such favourites with the Empress of Russia; and only yesterday I had the Viceroy of Ireland who dined with me. Scarcely a day passes without a visit from some distinguished personage' (H. W. Dickinson, Matthew Boulton, Cambridge, 1936, p. 72).
BLUE JOHN
Featuring richly striated blue john, the present vases reflect the taste for precious mounted minerals and hardstones among collectors in the second half of the 18th century. Blue john, a rare fluorspar deposit, is mined on a single hill in Castleton, Derbyshire. Comprised of a mix of deep purple hues with lighter translucent layers ranging from honey yellow to light brown, the name is a corruption of their French appellation 'bleu et jaune'. Robert Adam too incorporated Blue John into furniture and lighting, for example in the chimney pieces at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, while a pair of Louis XVI vases and a ewer in the Wallace Collection suggest that Parisian marchands-merciers also used the material (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, pp. 1390-3, F345-7). It remains unknown if the marchands-merciers obtained Blue John directly from Castleton or if they were supplied through Boulton, who had a virtual monopoly on the mineral in England, as well as a flourishing trade in France.
RELATED EXAMPLES
A single vase-candelabrum with Blue John body is in the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, and another is illustrated in Mallett, The Age of Matthew Boulton, London, 2000, p. 64. A pair sold from the collection of H.R.H. Duchess of Kent, Christie’s, London, 12-14 March 1947, lot 312 (£346), and another pair sold Christie’s, London, 28 November 2002, lot 5 (£23,500 including premium). A pair from the ‘Collections of Lily and Edmond J. Safra’, was Sotheby’s, New York, 3-4 November 2005, lot 110 ($287,500 including premium), and another pair, from the collection of the Earls of Portarlington, Erno Court, Co. Laois, was sold Bonhams, London, 20 November 2007, lot 77 (£96,000 including premium).
This celebrated model is inspired from Greek antiquity, and features in Boulton’s metal-work Pattern Book I (dating from late 1760s) as design no. 238, preserved in the Birmingham City Museum. It appears together with a companion design for a 'cassolette' vase, lacking branches but embellished with a husk-festooned medallion (N. Goodison, Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 361, fig. 370; p. 373, fig. 371). The earliest reference to a ‘winged’ vase occurs in a letter from Boulton’s partner, John Fothergill, in which he writes that the Earl of Stamford had visited the firm’s Soho Manufactory in Birmingham and purchased ‘the winged vase’ for £12 12s 0d (ibid., p. 356). The design was evidently successful becoming one of the firm’s trademark patterns thereafter, and was also executed with Stourbridge white opaque glass in place of blue john. Several examples were included in the sale and exhibition of Boulton’s wares at Christie and Ansell's London show-rooms in April 1772, catalogued as 'Wing figured Vases'. Boulton and Fothergill’s subsequent account with William Matthews cites at least two examples of this design made of blue john, ‘For Mr Thyne, delivered from the sale… 1 wing figure vase purple stone £14 14 0’. Robert Child (d. 1782) owned a number of related vases; one pair costing £29. 8. 0, was to have been delivered to him either for Osterley Park, Middlesex or Berkeley Square, London, but was erroneously sent to the wrong buyer; another pair was sent from Soho to replace them three months later (ibid.). A pair of wing-figured vases with blue john bodies remain at Osterley Park, and are probably those described in the 1782 inventory as, ‘two elegant spar vases mounted in or moulee with double branches and statuary pedestals’. Another set of four such vases was also in Mr. Child’s collection, listed in the Drawing Room as ‘four spar vases mounted with or molee’ (ibid., p. 362).
MATTHEW BOULTON: PURVEYOR OF LUXURY GOODS
Boulton opened his Soho Manufactory with John Fothergill in 1762. In a period when most firms comprised small industrial units engaged in complex systems of sub-contracting, the partners modernised manufacturing methods bringing together all mechanical processes with each specialised aspect of production, such as drawing, gilding and burnishing, in different studios. Through these improved production methods, the factory expanded its repertoire from producing buttons and small metal objects to encompass a wide variety of luxury goods in decorative metal ware. Josiah Wedgwood described Boulton in 1767 as 'the most complete manufacturer in England in metal'. In 1765, Boulton visited Paris where he observed first-hand the output of the acclaimed Parisian bronziers. Following this visit he became determined to challenge their dominance in the ormolu market, and in 1768 a specialised department was created for the large-scale production of ormolu.
With his jewel-like objects acquired by important patrons, including King George III, Boulton enjoyed a reputation for producing the most luxurious ormolu goods in the country. A series of sales at Christie's in the 1770s provided him with further access to London's fashionable clientele. He also sought international clients, utilising a network of local agents and ambassadors stationed abroad as ‘tastemakers’ to introduce his work at various Royal Courts, such as the Court of Catherine the Great. His Soho Manufactory became a place of pilgrimage for fashionable society, and in 1767 Boulton boasted, 'Last week we had Prince Poniatowski, nephew of the King of Poland, and the French, Danish and Dutch ambassadors; this week we have the Count Orloff and five celebrated brothers who are such favourites with the Empress of Russia; and only yesterday I had the Viceroy of Ireland who dined with me. Scarcely a day passes without a visit from some distinguished personage' (H. W. Dickinson, Matthew Boulton, Cambridge, 1936, p. 72).
BLUE JOHN
Featuring richly striated blue john, the present vases reflect the taste for precious mounted minerals and hardstones among collectors in the second half of the 18th century. Blue john, a rare fluorspar deposit, is mined on a single hill in Castleton, Derbyshire. Comprised of a mix of deep purple hues with lighter translucent layers ranging from honey yellow to light brown, the name is a corruption of their French appellation 'bleu et jaune'. Robert Adam too incorporated Blue John into furniture and lighting, for example in the chimney pieces at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, while a pair of Louis XVI vases and a ewer in the Wallace Collection suggest that Parisian marchands-merciers also used the material (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. III, pp. 1390-3, F345-7). It remains unknown if the marchands-merciers obtained Blue John directly from Castleton or if they were supplied through Boulton, who had a virtual monopoly on the mineral in England, as well as a flourishing trade in France.
RELATED EXAMPLES
A single vase-candelabrum with Blue John body is in the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, and another is illustrated in Mallett, The Age of Matthew Boulton, London, 2000, p. 64. A pair sold from the collection of H.R.H. Duchess of Kent, Christie’s, London, 12-14 March 1947, lot 312 (£346), and another pair sold Christie’s, London, 28 November 2002, lot 5 (£23,500 including premium). A pair from the ‘Collections of Lily and Edmond J. Safra’, was Sotheby’s, New York, 3-4 November 2005, lot 110 ($287,500 including premium), and another pair, from the collection of the Earls of Portarlington, Erno Court, Co. Laois, was sold Bonhams, London, 20 November 2007, lot 77 (£96,000 including premium).