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Lot Essay
THE MODEL
The form of this pair of 'candle-vases' closely follows a design by Matthew Boulton recorded in his Pattern Book I, page 171. Several related variants of this model, each fitted with a reversible nozzle, are known and illustrated in Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 305, figs. 277 and 279.
Comparable examples include single vases sold anonymously at Sotheby's, London, 19 March 1982, lot 108, and at Christie's, London, 7 February 1991, lot 3. A pair from the collection of Lord Brabourne was sold at Christie's, London, 19 November 1992, lot 4, and again on 6 July 1995, lot 10. Another pair, with variant lids, was sold at Christie's, London, 7 June 2006, lot 72. A further pair, identical to the present lot but executed in blue john, was sold from a Private Jersey Collection; Christie's, London, 17 May 2017, lot 62. A single example in blue john, also matching this model, was recently sold from a Connecticut Collection; Christie's, New York, 19 April 2023, lot 348.
'TIGER STONE'
Rather than the more familiar Derbyshire blue john, which was Boulton's typical choice for vases of this type, this pair is fashioned from a yellow fluorite notable for its striking zig-zag veining. The material may correspond to a yellow fluorite quarried at Crich, or to a composite stone of barytes and fluorite known as 'hatterel'. Boulton referred to a distinctive stone, likely one of these varieties, as 'tiger stone' or 'leopard stone', and his diary records a purchase of 'tiger stone' in 1769 (ibid., pp. 152, 384 n.110).
The form of this pair of 'candle-vases' closely follows a design by Matthew Boulton recorded in his Pattern Book I, page 171. Several related variants of this model, each fitted with a reversible nozzle, are known and illustrated in Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 305, figs. 277 and 279.
Comparable examples include single vases sold anonymously at Sotheby's, London, 19 March 1982, lot 108, and at Christie's, London, 7 February 1991, lot 3. A pair from the collection of Lord Brabourne was sold at Christie's, London, 19 November 1992, lot 4, and again on 6 July 1995, lot 10. Another pair, with variant lids, was sold at Christie's, London, 7 June 2006, lot 72. A further pair, identical to the present lot but executed in blue john, was sold from a Private Jersey Collection; Christie's, London, 17 May 2017, lot 62. A single example in blue john, also matching this model, was recently sold from a Connecticut Collection; Christie's, New York, 19 April 2023, lot 348.
'TIGER STONE'
Rather than the more familiar Derbyshire blue john, which was Boulton's typical choice for vases of this type, this pair is fashioned from a yellow fluorite notable for its striking zig-zag veining. The material may correspond to a yellow fluorite quarried at Crich, or to a composite stone of barytes and fluorite known as 'hatterel'. Boulton referred to a distinctive stone, likely one of these varieties, as 'tiger stone' or 'leopard stone', and his diary records a purchase of 'tiger stone' in 1769 (ibid., pp. 152, 384 n.110).