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Lot Essay
THE 'LYRE' MODEL
A similar pattern to this lot is featured in Boulton's 1782 stock list, described as a 'Lyre essence vase, white marble'. Although a specific design has not been located, a much less elaborate version is illustrated in the pattern books from around 1770 (N. Goodison, Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton, London, 1974, fig. 161, f). Designed in the French 'antique' style, in the form of krater-shaped 'sacred urn' on double-stepped round altar plinth, this ormolu-mounted vase served as an 'essence vase', or perfume-burner, and the lid is appropriately pierced for the emission of perfume.
RELATED EXAMPLES IN BLUE JOHN
While versions of this 'lyre' vase model exist in white marble, examples in blue john, such as the present lot, are very rare. Known examples show slight variations in design, primarily in the lid and stem. Others in blue john include:
1. A single example with the same pierced ormolu lid, but a different stem featuring a foot chased with laurel and crossed ribbons rather than gadrooning, in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (inv. no. Z1.12614; exhibited in London, Somerset House, Treasures of Catherine the Great, 2000-2001, no. 316, pp. 162, 183) (Goodison, 2002, pp. 342, 400, note 639).
2. A single example with the same stem but a solid blue john lid, sold Sotheby's, London, 30 June 2004, lot 18.
3. A further single example with a solid blue john lid and stem, the stem with a gadrooned ormolu foot, sold Christie's, London, 13 November 2018, lot 368.
4. A pair, also with solid blue john lids, but a stem with the laurel-foot variation, from the collection of Sir Nicholas Goodison; Christie's, London, 25 May 2022, lot 104, illustrated in Goodison, 2002, p. 243, fig. 346 (one of these is illustrated separately in Goodison, 1974, fig. 118, with Hotspur).
A similar pattern to this lot is featured in Boulton's 1782 stock list, described as a 'Lyre essence vase, white marble'. Although a specific design has not been located, a much less elaborate version is illustrated in the pattern books from around 1770 (N. Goodison, Ormolu: The Work of Matthew Boulton, London, 1974, fig. 161, f). Designed in the French 'antique' style, in the form of krater-shaped 'sacred urn' on double-stepped round altar plinth, this ormolu-mounted vase served as an 'essence vase', or perfume-burner, and the lid is appropriately pierced for the emission of perfume.
RELATED EXAMPLES IN BLUE JOHN
While versions of this 'lyre' vase model exist in white marble, examples in blue john, such as the present lot, are very rare. Known examples show slight variations in design, primarily in the lid and stem. Others in blue john include:
1. A single example with the same pierced ormolu lid, but a different stem featuring a foot chased with laurel and crossed ribbons rather than gadrooning, in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (inv. no. Z1.12614; exhibited in London, Somerset House, Treasures of Catherine the Great, 2000-2001, no. 316, pp. 162, 183) (Goodison, 2002, pp. 342, 400, note 639).
2. A single example with the same stem but a solid blue john lid, sold Sotheby's, London, 30 June 2004, lot 18.
3. A further single example with a solid blue john lid and stem, the stem with a gadrooned ormolu foot, sold Christie's, London, 13 November 2018, lot 368.
4. A pair, also with solid blue john lids, but a stem with the laurel-foot variation, from the collection of Sir Nicholas Goodison; Christie's, London, 25 May 2022, lot 104, illustrated in Goodison, 2002, p. 243, fig. 346 (one of these is illustrated separately in Goodison, 1974, fig. 118, with Hotspur).