A FINE PAIR OF GEORGE III BLUE JOHN AND ORMOLU MOUNTED VASE PERFUME BURNERS

A FINE PAIR OF GEORGE III BLUE JOHN AND ORMOLU MOUNTED VASE PERFUME BURNERS

BY MATTHEW BOULTON AND JOHN FOTHERGILL, C.1775

of ovoid form, each with a domed foliate cover with a flower bud finial above a pierced rim, with a pair of scrollin foliate handles with ram's head terminals and hung with laurel garlands, with ribboned oak leaf swags, above a fluted socle, on a stepped square foot with an egg and dart border, in turn on a white marble waisted socle with a guilloche cast ormolu band with scrolling ribbon and flowerhead decoration (2)

24cm high

Literature

Nicholas Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London 2002, p305, pl 279 where our lot is illustrated.

Catalogue Note

The year 1765 saw Matthew Boulton, engineer and entrepreneur, visit Paris to learn about the ormolu workshops and the wares they were providing to satiate the Georgian demand for 'antique' inspired works of art. This visit led to his partnership with John Fothergill to create, in 1768, a new ormolu workshop at their premises in Birmingham to decorate the vases they were creating using various polished stones, the most popular being blue john, a feldspar only found in one seam in Derbyshire. In fact, so popular were these blue john vases that at around the same time Boulton attempted to purchase or lease the blue john mines.

By 1770, the design seen in the current example had been fine tuned to the point of production and is found in Boulton and Fothergill's Pattern Book 1 on page 171 (Goodison, (N), Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, p305, pl. 278). The popularity of this design was ensured after Boulton sold several vases to Queen Charlotte and they were eventually produced in a number of variations. The most popular were blue john 'candle vases', with reversible covers, and perfume burners as seen here. Other variations include different designs of the socle, resulting in the vase being mounted on a lower socle either in ormolu or white marble, alongside the use of white marble or porcelain as the primary ovoid body.

For similar examples, see Canterbury Auction Galleries, Fine Art and Antiques, 6th June 2020, lot 630 for a pair of George III ormolu mounted blue john candle vases; Sworders, Fine Interiors, 3rd December 2019, lot 257 for a pair of gilt bronze and porcelain cassolettes; Christie's, European Furniture and Works of Art, 6th July 2016, lot 88 for a pair of George III ormolu and white marble perfume burners; Christie's, East & West: A Private Collection from Eaton Square & Anouska Hempel, 2nd May 2013, lot 9 for pair of George III ormolu and white marble perfume burners; Woolley and Wallis, English and Continental Furniture, Barometers, Clocks and Works of Art, 13th March 2007, lot 128 for a pair of George III ormolu mounted blue john 'candle vases' by Matthew Boulton.