Matthew Boulton

Exhibited by Thomas Coulborn & Sons

Material Ormolu, marble

Dimensions 36 × 19 × 14 cm

Place of Creation Birmingham, England

Status Vetted

About the Work

This figure of Clotho is remarkable in being the only known surviving example of Matthew Boulton’s solitary freestanding ormolu figure design. The design can be found in Boulton and Fothergill's Pattern Book I, page 18, figure h, part of the Archives of Soho, held by Birmingham City Archives [Ref: MS3782]. The only variation from the design being that it was drawn on a cylindrical pedestal. Whilst Boulton sometimes used classical figures to adorn timepieces, candelabra and brule parfums, throughout his vast oeuvre he never produced or designed any freestanding ormolu figures apart from Clotho. There is no evidence of others in his surviving work or pattern books. Also of note, is that Clotho’s pattern is not shown as part of a set with the other two Fates, showing her significance as a goddess in her own right to Boulton.

The figure of the fate Clotho would have been produced 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. Matthew Boulton was a visionary with a remarkably forward-thinking attitude to design and many of his creations could be made to order from specialised pattern books.

Mythology:

Clotho was the first of the three Fate sisters or Moirai, the goddesses of destiny in Ancient Greece with her Roman equivalent being the goddess Nona. Destiny and life were viewed through the metaphor of weaving and Homer was the first to name the Fates as spinners ‘Klôthes’ in the Odyssey. Clotho was the ‘Spinner’ of the thread, Lachesis the ‘Apportioner’ who measured it and Atropos the ‘Inevitable’ who finally cuts the thread. Clotho was the most powerful of the three Fates as she decided when and where each mortal was born. Upon a birth, Clotho spun a thread which the Fates then followed and used to dictate the consequences of the person’s actions throughout their life. As the spinner of the thread of life, she symbolised the inception of destiny and the potential of each god and mortal.

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