BY MATTHEW BOULTON, CIRCA 1778

The neo-classical candelabra present Apollo and Diana as light-bearing Sun and Moon deities. Drawings of these figures appear in Boulton's Pattern Book, I, p.19, and though the exact source for the design is unclear they possibly derive from illustrations in Boulton's own copy of Le Antichita di Ercolano, Naples, 1771, certainly the white marble plinths relate to an illustration of figures on pedestals.¹

Sir Nicholas Goodison notes that these are among the finest of the ornaments produced at Soho towards the end of the 1770s; at the time of writing just two pairs were known.² These were included in Boulton's sale held by Messrs Christie and Ansell's `At their Great Room, Next Cumberland House, Pallmall', 16 May 1778, lots 79 and 124. The first pair was sold to Storer for £12.6s, but the second pair was unsold. Subsequent records showed that Boulton may have taken the second pair himself for Soho House but returned them shortly afterwards, and after John Fothergill's death on 19 June 1782 (when Boulton dissolved the partnership) an inventory of stock revealed `1 Diana and Apollo with branches, gilt' valued at £19.8s.

A pair of Apollo and Diana candelabra was sold Christie's London by the late John Trafford Esq., Hill Court, Herefordshire, Christie's house sale, 13 December 1982, lot 53. They were possibly the pair sold at the 1778 auction, perhaps then acquired by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick (d.1848) for Goodrich Court, Herefordshire, and subsequently by descent at Goodrich Court until sold with the house to George Moffatt, Esq., in 1871, then probably moved to Hill Court around 1950. Meyrick was one of the greatest collectors of the early 19th century, building Goodrich Court to create a series of historical interiors and he was a pioneer of the `period room' concept of grouping objects by date; at Goodrich he furnished the Herald's Room in the `Modern French' style for which these candelabra would have been appropriate. More recently this pair was sold again anonymously, Christie's, London, 5 December 1991, lot 211 (£72,000 including premium) and again anonymously, Christie's, London, 3 July 1997, lot 10 (£89,500 including premium). They were appropriately acquired by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for Soho House Museum. It seems probable therefore that the pair of candelabra offered here are the second pair offered in 1778.

A further pair of Diana and Apollo candelabra but with five palm-wrapped branches, was sold anonymously Christie's, London, 7 June 2007, lot 10 (£84,000 including premium). These had been acquired in mainland Europe and hence raises the possibility that they were amongst the wares retailed by Boulton by the fashionable Parisian marchand mercier Charles-Raymond Granchez.

1. Le Antichita di Ercolano, Naples, 1771, p.53
2. N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London , 2002, pp. 184 - 187.