Pair of White Marble Brule Parfums by Matthew Boulton
ENGLAND, CIRCA 1770
20 x 13 x 7.25 cm
7 ¾ x 5 x 2 ¾ in
7 ¾ x 5 x 2 ¾ in
7174
Further images
Provenance
Private European CollectionLiterature
Compare: Nicholas Goodison: Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, London/Christie's 2002, p. 312 and images 296 and 297
A pair of white marble brule parfums designed by Matthew Boulton. Created in the neoclassical style, with bud filial pierced lids and lined with copper gilt inside. The marble is...
A pair of white marble brule parfums designed by Matthew Boulton. Created in the neoclassical style, with bud filial pierced lids and lined with copper gilt inside. The marble is decorated with laurel garlands and mounted on a laurel leaf base upon a waisted socle finishing in a stepped square plinth with ball feet. The cast arched handles feature an intricate ram’s head join. The colour of the marble is exceptionally pure, without veins or discolouration.
The perfume burners would have been produced at Boulton’s renowned Soho Manufactory in Birmingham. Prior to Boulton establishing his manufactory, Birmingham was a city of small trade workshops with craftsmen relying on hand tools with a limited production output. Boulton’s manufactory revolutionised this and became the region’s largest employer. Boulton held a remarkably forward-thinking attitude to design and many of his creations could be made to order from specialised pattern books. The most similar designs to these brule parfums can be found in Boulton & Fothergill’s Pattern Book I, page 170. A notable pair of candle vases in the collection of Sherborne Castle, designed for Lord Digby, have identical vases to the brule parfums and differ only in their candelabra attachment.
During the 18th Century, brule parfums were predominantly used as ornaments, however there are some records of them being used functionally on social occasions to ‘cleanse’ the air between courses at dinner parties. Their popularity grew in the neoclassical era, due to the belief that incense burning was an important Roman practice.
Materials:
The neoclassical fashion of the late eighteenth century bought with it a mania for vases and Boulton used this as a way introduce ormolu to the English audience. Far from being simple receptacles, Boulton designed vases with attachments to suit the client’s needs, so that they which became multiuse objects such as candelabras, timepieces, pot-pourri jars and perfume burners, thus increasing their marketability. Boulton was the first English designer to mount vases with ormolu, a technique which had previously only been achieved by the French. Ormolu came from the French ‘dorure d’or moulu’ meaning ‘gilding with gold paste’ and used mercury which was burnt away to leave gold deposits on a surface. Whilst the use of mercury poses no danger to the owner of the vases, it conferred significant risk onto the craftsmen making them, and production of ormolu was eventually banned and discontinued in the mid-19th Century until safer methods were found. Later objects are often incorrectly labelled as ormolu and these brule parfums therefore, are true relics of a time specific craft. The purity of the white marble colour and its lack of veins and texture indicate that it is likely Thassos marble. Often imported to Italy and sold as Carrara marble, marble from the Greek Island of Thassos is noted for its pure white colour and has been used in the decorative arts since antiquity.
Symbolism:
The ormolu decoration is rich with classical symbolism. In Ancient Greece, the ram was seen to represent strength and courage and related to the legend of the Golden Fleece and the constellation of Aries. Rams were associated with sacrifice in ancient literature, such as the ram that carried Odysseus from the Cyclops and was then sacrificed on completion of its task. In Grecian culture, laurel leaves were a symbol of victory, having been used to crown the winners of the Olympic games. The laurel also symbolises eternity, as its leaves are evergreen.
The perfume burners would have been produced at Boulton’s renowned Soho Manufactory in Birmingham. Prior to Boulton establishing his manufactory, Birmingham was a city of small trade workshops with craftsmen relying on hand tools with a limited production output. Boulton’s manufactory revolutionised this and became the region’s largest employer. Boulton held a remarkably forward-thinking attitude to design and many of his creations could be made to order from specialised pattern books. The most similar designs to these brule parfums can be found in Boulton & Fothergill’s Pattern Book I, page 170. A notable pair of candle vases in the collection of Sherborne Castle, designed for Lord Digby, have identical vases to the brule parfums and differ only in their candelabra attachment.
During the 18th Century, brule parfums were predominantly used as ornaments, however there are some records of them being used functionally on social occasions to ‘cleanse’ the air between courses at dinner parties. Their popularity grew in the neoclassical era, due to the belief that incense burning was an important Roman practice.
Materials:
The neoclassical fashion of the late eighteenth century bought with it a mania for vases and Boulton used this as a way introduce ormolu to the English audience. Far from being simple receptacles, Boulton designed vases with attachments to suit the client’s needs, so that they which became multiuse objects such as candelabras, timepieces, pot-pourri jars and perfume burners, thus increasing their marketability. Boulton was the first English designer to mount vases with ormolu, a technique which had previously only been achieved by the French. Ormolu came from the French ‘dorure d’or moulu’ meaning ‘gilding with gold paste’ and used mercury which was burnt away to leave gold deposits on a surface. Whilst the use of mercury poses no danger to the owner of the vases, it conferred significant risk onto the craftsmen making them, and production of ormolu was eventually banned and discontinued in the mid-19th Century until safer methods were found. Later objects are often incorrectly labelled as ormolu and these brule parfums therefore, are true relics of a time specific craft. The purity of the white marble colour and its lack of veins and texture indicate that it is likely Thassos marble. Often imported to Italy and sold as Carrara marble, marble from the Greek Island of Thassos is noted for its pure white colour and has been used in the decorative arts since antiquity.
Symbolism:
The ormolu decoration is rich with classical symbolism. In Ancient Greece, the ram was seen to represent strength and courage and related to the legend of the Golden Fleece and the constellation of Aries. Rams were associated with sacrifice in ancient literature, such as the ram that carried Odysseus from the Cyclops and was then sacrificed on completion of its task. In Grecian culture, laurel leaves were a symbol of victory, having been used to crown the winners of the Olympic games. The laurel also symbolises eternity, as its leaves are evergreen.