BY MATTHEW BOULTON, CIRCA 1775, MOUNTED AS A LAMP, WITH CONSEQUENTIAL ALTERATIONS, THE ARMS PROBABLY ORIGINAL BUT REPOSITIONED

With his jewel-like objects sought after by important patrons, including King George III, Matthew Boulton (d. 1810) was Georgian England's premier designer and supplier of ormolu objects de luxe. A genius of self promotion, Boulton had a Soho showroom, agents who plied his wares in the Russian and French Courts, and even enlisted the auctioneer James Christie to hold selling exhibitions of his works; the 1771 sale alone had 265 lots.
The model appears as a candle vase in Boulton’s Pattern Book I (N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 305, pl. 278), while the model for the paired arms, also feature in the Pattern Book (op. cit., p. 319, pl. 312). The model appears as vases and perfume burners and candelabra with arms in both blue john and marble.