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拍品专文
These candelabra, with their elaborate pierced anthemion collars and richly spiral-scrolling socles, are closely indebted to the designs of James ‘Athenian’ Stuart and rank among the grandest models of ‘candle vases’ produced by Matthew Boulton. The bodies correspond closely to the design seen on the Wentworth candelabrum, offered in Volume I of the Irene Aitken Collection. The arms, however, differ and match precisely to those published in Boulton’s Pattern Book I, p. 156. Yet the specific combination of arms and body found here appears to be completely unique within Boulton’s oeuvre. The mounts on the present pair show subtle variations to the chasing, suggesting that one may have been executed a year or two earlier than its companion.
Comparable examples of the present model with variant arm patterns include:
1. A pair in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace, Oxford. Although there is no record of when the 4th Duke purchased the vases, he did buy other ornaments from Matthew Boulton in 1772 (Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, figs. 241-2).
2. A pair in the Royal Collection at Frogmore House. These vases came from the Mulliner Collection (H. Batsford, H.H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England, London, 1924, fig. 164), sold, Christie's, London, 10 July 1924, lot 37, where they were acquired by Humphrey Wyndham Cook (1893-1978), later sold from his collection, Sotheby's, London, 1 May 1936, lot 73 (to Hadley). According to Goodison, they were later given to George V and Queen Mary by the Prince Regent and Princess Paul of Yugoslavia in May 1937 (see Goodison, 2002, note 489). Interestingly, Humphrey Cook seems to have acquired several items from the Mulliner collection sale, including the agate bowl and pair of 'Sphinx' vases which are now in the Irene Aitken collection.
3. A pair inherited or acquired by H.R.H. The Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood (d. 1965) and by descent at Harewood House, Yorkshire. Subsequently sold, 'Harewood: Collecting in the Royal Tradition'; Christie's, London, 5 December 2012, lot 549, of which one was a slightly later after-cast (£181,250).
4. A set of four (two pairs) sold from the Collection of the Earl of Home, removed from Bothwell Castle, Douglas Castle, and the Hirsel; Christie's, London, 17 June 1919, lot 302 (to M. Harris, presumably the dealer Moss Harris). The set of four was again sold from the Collections of the Late Viscount Leverhulme; Anderson Galleries, New York, 9 February 1926, lot 165 (to Symons).
5. A pair from the Estate of Polly Guggenheim Logan; Sotheby's, New York, 13 October 1994, lot 134; subsequently with Partridge and Hotspur; sold, A Distinguished New York Collection; Christie's, New York, 17 October 2008, lot 50 ($386,500).
6. A single example in the Birmingham City Art Gallery (illustrated, S. Mason, Matthew Boulton: Selling What All The World Desires, New Haven, 2009, p. 58, fig. 49).
Comparable examples of the present model with variant arm patterns include:
1. A pair in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace, Oxford. Although there is no record of when the 4th Duke purchased the vases, he did buy other ornaments from Matthew Boulton in 1772 (Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, figs. 241-2).
2. A pair in the Royal Collection at Frogmore House. These vases came from the Mulliner Collection (H. Batsford, H.H. Mulliner, The Decorative Arts in England, London, 1924, fig. 164), sold, Christie's, London, 10 July 1924, lot 37, where they were acquired by Humphrey Wyndham Cook (1893-1978), later sold from his collection, Sotheby's, London, 1 May 1936, lot 73 (to Hadley). According to Goodison, they were later given to George V and Queen Mary by the Prince Regent and Princess Paul of Yugoslavia in May 1937 (see Goodison, 2002, note 489). Interestingly, Humphrey Cook seems to have acquired several items from the Mulliner collection sale, including the agate bowl and pair of 'Sphinx' vases which are now in the Irene Aitken collection.
3. A pair inherited or acquired by H.R.H. The Princess Mary, Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood (d. 1965) and by descent at Harewood House, Yorkshire. Subsequently sold, 'Harewood: Collecting in the Royal Tradition'; Christie's, London, 5 December 2012, lot 549, of which one was a slightly later after-cast (£181,250).
4. A set of four (two pairs) sold from the Collection of the Earl of Home, removed from Bothwell Castle, Douglas Castle, and the Hirsel; Christie's, London, 17 June 1919, lot 302 (to M. Harris, presumably the dealer Moss Harris). The set of four was again sold from the Collections of the Late Viscount Leverhulme; Anderson Galleries, New York, 9 February 1926, lot 165 (to Symons).
5. A pair from the Estate of Polly Guggenheim Logan; Sotheby's, New York, 13 October 1994, lot 134; subsequently with Partridge and Hotspur; sold, A Distinguished New York Collection; Christie's, New York, 17 October 2008, lot 50 ($386,500).
6. A single example in the Birmingham City Art Gallery (illustrated, S. Mason, Matthew Boulton: Selling What All The World Desires, New Haven, 2009, p. 58, fig. 49).