BY MATTHEW BOULTON, CIRCA 1771

This allegorical vase 'perforated for essence', conforms to a design in Messrs. Boulton and Fothergill's Pattern Books dating from around 1770 (see N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 355, fig. 360). Produced as a vase as well as a clock-case (op. cit., fig. 191), the Venus vase was a popular model. There were two 'Venus vase' perfume burners offered at Boulton and Fothergill's Christie's sale in 1771, bought by the Earl of Kerry and Lord or Lady Melbourne, respectively. In the 1778 sale, the five vases were described in the catalogue as 'Venus and Cupid in ormolu, at the tomb of Adonis', one of which was fitted with branches for two candles. A very similar perfume-burner is illustrated ibid., p. 355, pl. 359 and 361. There is another at Syon, lacking its lid, Cupid's bow, and brand.

Others of this model on the market include:
1. One exhibited London, Hotspur, Golden Jubilee Exhibition, 1974, pl. 19.

2. Another sold Christie's, London, 17 November 1983, lot 6.

3. Another, almost identical sold Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1987, lot 8.

4. One exhibited London, Mallett, The Age of Matthew Boulton, 2000, pp. 50-51 in the catalogue

A Venus clock with rotating dial was sold Christie's, London, 31 May 1956, lot 57, the Property of the Duke of Roxburghe. A related Venus clock with alterations to the urn was sold Christie's, London, 11 October 1990, lot 11. The Aitken collection features another very similar version of this model where the weeping Venus figure's right arm is down rather than resting on the plinth.