One of Boulton's more commercially successful models, the 'Goat's Head' vase is represented in the present lot. A sketch from the Boulton and Fothergill's Pattern Book I, page 171 (figure K) corresponds to the mounts on the present vases although as Goodison rightly points out, the upspringing laurel leaf-sheathed base of the vase body and waisted socle foot correspond more closely to another sketch from the Pattern Book, page 170 (N. Goodison, Ormolu: the work of Matthew Boulton, 1974, p. 157 and plate 163d). Though 'goat's head' vases were not described as such in either the 1771 or 1778 Christie's and Ansell's sales, Goodison suggests they may actually have been the 'candle vases radix amethysti and ormoulu' that went unsold at the time, later sent to William Matthews. If this were the case, Matthews secured three pairs with gilt bodies for £11, three more pairs with enamelled bodies also for £11, and six pairs in 'head stone' for £25 4s. Corresponding to this price was the sale of a pair of green enamelled bodied vases to Mrs. Balfour in 1772 for £5 13s. 6d. (ibid, p. 156).

The earliest record of the sale of this model of vases dates to 1768 when Mrs. Yates ordered, '1 pair of goat's head vauses light blue cheny or enamelled' (ibid, p. 155-156). Subsequent orders taken for Mrs. Balfour, Sir William Guise and Joseph Didier confirm the popularity of the design. In fact, so popular were the vases that Boulton turned to producing vases in a wide variety of body colors and materials: silver-mounted richly figured blue john, gilt copper, and green or blue enamel are recorded. Further examples with white marble are also known (see examples illus. ibid, plates 119-125). Writing to Fothergill after a trip to London in March of 1770, Boulton laments that his supply of blue john or hardstone goats' head vases had run low as, 'with blew john and some with the leopard or tyger stone' he could have sold a pair to the Prince of Wales (ibid, p. 156). The present pair of vases, decorated in red enamel simulating fine Japanese nashiji lacquer, were most probably redecorated to replace otherwise irrepairable damage done to their originally differently decorated bodies.

Some vases are known to have been hung with medallions from the ormolu rims (see for example, ibid, plate 120). Other examples illustrated by Goodison display pierced ormolu rims that may be signs of such original embellishments (ibid, plate 125). It is equally plausible that such holes are actually evidence of the usual mass production of such standard fittments. Certainly, when Sir William Guise ordered a pair of vases in 1769, he specified the bodes should be 'of the purpel stone no medals on' (ibid, p. 156), suggesting custom orders were not only accommodated but also planned for in production. It is therefore interesting to note that each of the present vases has a loop to each side of the ormolu rim - while these are now partially hung with tassles it is tempting to suggest that they originally were hung with such medallions.