Details
Holding aloft a cornucopia and inscribed with a 'B' to base of neck, resting atop a later rouge griotte marble plinth
13 in. (33 cm.) high (the figure)
Provenance
Acquired from Hotspur, London, 1993.
Literature
N. Goodison, Matthew Boulton Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 84, fig. 46 (with Hotspur).
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve.
Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.
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A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.View condition report

Lot Essay

This figure of the demigod Triton is most often seen as candlesticks produced in varying colors by Wedgwood. It was likely inspired by the Triton Fountain in Piazza Barberini, Rome, and can be traced to Sir William Chambers, architect to King George III. In a letter to his business partner in 1769, Josiah Wedgwood wrote that 'Mr. Chambers lent me the model of the triton candlestick and was to have had the first pair as a present...". In 1770 Wedgwood brought a figure of Triton to Matthew Boulton, though there is some indication that Chambers had lent his figure directly to Boulton previously, as described by Nicholas Goodison in his book (Matthew Boulton Ormolu, London, 2002, p. 84, fig. 46). In any case, a bronze figure of Triton can be attributed to Matthew Boulton's manufactory by 1771, when Christie's sold 'A tryton in dark bronz, holding branches for two candles in or moulu, on a bassment of the same neatly ornamentd' (A Catalogue of the Superb and Elegant Produce of Messrs Boulton and Fothergill's Ormolu Manufactory, at Soho in Staffordshire, Christie's London, 11-13 April 1771, Third Day, lot 28).

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Condition report

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

View Condition Report