A BRONZE FIGURE OF TRITON

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).