Blue John and Ormolu Wing-figured Candle Vase
ENGLAND, circa 1770-5
51 x 33.5 cm
Provenance
Sold by Hotspur Ltd circa 1985, Private Collection.Literature
Illustrated in Nicholas Goodison, Matthew Boulton: ORMOLU, London, 2002, fig. 373, p.364.
Nicholas Goodison explains that three types of wing-figured vase were produced at Soho from about 1772. This vase, along with the model including a pedestal base – an example of which can be seen at Osterley – were the largest form of wing-figured vase. The first to be sold appears to have been bought by the Earl of Stamford on a visit to Soho early in 1772. Subsequently The Duke of Northumberland, the Earl of Sefton and a Mr. Thyne are all recorded as having purchased one, the latter being described as “purple stone” in the account book. The exceptional piece of blue john incorporated in the vase makes it a superlative example of Boulton’s output.
On a square white marble plinth stepped to a square ormolu base, the fluted socle surrounded by a band of laurel leaves, the fine reddish blue john ovoid body and with wing-figured mounts on either side, the female heads with their hair drawn back into ‘chignon’, the C-shaped handles issuing from the back of each head, the upper half of the body of the vase being decorated with ormolu mounts in the form of scrolls, the vase surmounted by elaborate candle branches which grow out of a basin of leaves shaped almost like a tulip terminating in a candle nozzle and drip tray with fluting and leaf decoration, and with a pronounced anthemion mount at the centre.