SOHO DEPICTED: PRINTS, DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS OF MATTHEW BOULTON, HIS MANUFACTORY AND ESTATE, 1760-1809 by VALERIE ANN LOGGIE A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History of Art College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham January 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the ways in which the industrialist Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) used images of his manufactory and of himself to help develop what would now be considered a ‘brand’. The argument draws heavily on archival research into the commissioning process, authorship and reception of these depictions. Such information is rarely available when studying prints and allows consideration of these images in a new light but also contributes to a wider debate on British eighteenth-century print culture. The first chapter argues that Boulton used images to convey messages about the output of his businesses, to draw together a diverse range of products and associate them with one site. Chapter two explores the setting of the manufactory and the surrounding estate, outlining Boulton’s motivation for creating the parkland and considering the ways in which it was depicted. The third chapter looks at a period of reinforcement of the identity of Soho, exploring the ways in which images were placed and altered in order to convey specific messages to particular audiences. Chapter four examines printed portraits of Boulton and argues that images of Boulton himself also came to stand for his factory and his products. For Chris and Derek Loggie Acknowledgements Thanks must go to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for developing the Collaborative Doctoral Awards which provided such an exciting opportunity to return to academic study after some years working in museums, and for funding this particular project. Many people have helped with this thesis over a period of years; some are named in footnotes at relevant points while others have helped throughout and deserve particular mention. Shena Mason has read mountains of text, discussed many points and been extremely kind with references and ideas. George Demidowicz has generously shared the results of years of work and answered some incredibly specific questions which only he could have dealt with. Others have helped in many ways, for which I thank them: Richard Albutt, Jim Andrew, John Babbage, Phillada Ballard, Sally Baggot, Lucy Blakeman, Maxine Berg, Jo-Ann Curtis, Malcolm Dick, Chris Evans, Barbara Fogarty, Sir Nicholas Goodison, Antony Griffiths, Ian Grosvenor, Kate Iles, Nick Kingsley, Jane McArdle, Rita McLean, Nick Molyneux, Lucy Peltz, Stephen Price, Ken Quickenden, Sian Roberts, Tessa Sidey, Paul Spencer- Longhurst, David Symons, Fiona Tait, Jenny Uglow, Ruth Watts, Glennys Wild, Stephen Wildman, the descendants of Matthew Boulton and of John Phillp. Sue Tungate, Laura McCulloch and Connie Wan have shared the new and exciting route of the collaborative PhD. Thanks also to Melanie Bermingham, Joelle Harris, Barbara Mullarkey, Pearl Mulholland, Graham Passey, Deb Walker and Malcolm Loggie for keeping me sane when I was doing too much thinking. Staff at many libraries and archives have been tremendously helpful including the William Salt Library, the Heinz Archive at the National Portrait Gallery, the British Library and the Print Room at the British Museum. Special mention must go to the archivists at Birmingham Archives and Heritage, past and present, who have carried enormous volumes and helped find obscure sources while remaining cheerful and helpful throughout. Fiona Tait, Adam Green and Tim Procter undertook the Heritage Lottery Funded cataloguing of the three main collections known collectively as the Archives of Soho and were tremendously helpful in finding new material and making more sense of old. Staff and students of the Department of Art History at the University of Birmingham have been endlessly patient with someone who was convinced they were not an art historian. Particular thanks must, of course, go to my supervisors; Victoria Osborne has been generous, helpful and patient, Professor Peter Jones, although less able to be directly involved, provided some key ideas and sources. Dr Richard Clay has been encouraging, enthusiastic and supportive; I could not have asked for better supervision. Contents Introduction 1 Chapter one Developing a Brand Identity 1760-1793 29 The early business 29 The site at Soho and the Principal Building 35 ‘A seminary of artists’: drawing and design at Soho 49 ‘Emerging from obscurity’: marketing Soho 56 Earliest representations of Soho 69 Boulton & Fothergill Située a Soho prés de Birmingham 76 Swinney’s Directory 86 The Insurance Society Poster 93 Conclusion 98 Chapter two The Soho Estate 101 Setting out the park 102 Sketches and watercolours of Soho 111 Influences and inspiration 125 Conclusion 137 Chapter three Reinforcing the Brand Identity 1797-1802 140 Printed text and printed image 142 The Monthly Magazine 146 The Copper-Plate Magazine 157 Bisset’s Directories 162 Stebbing Shaw’s History of Staffordshire 173 The Illuminations 182 Absences 185 Conclusion 191 Chapter four Depicting an Industrialist 1801-1809 197 Matthew Boulton by S.W. Reynolds 201 after C.F. von Breda, 1796 Matthew Boulton by William Sharp 209 after Sir William Beechey, 1801 Magazine and book illustrations 237 Conclusion 243 Conclusion 250 Catalogue 258 Appendix One Descriptions accompanying images 340 Appendix Two Directory description of Soho without image 368 Bibliography 372 Illustrations following p.395 List of illustrations Illustrations are not included in the online version of this thesis for copyright reasons. They can be consulted in the hard copies at the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Many of the images can be found online at www.digitalhandsworth.org.uk/ , http://www.bmagic.org.uk/ and http://www.staffspasttrack.org.uk/ Most have also been published in Phillada Ballard, Val Loggie and Shena Mason, A Lost Landscape: Matthew Boulton’s Gardens at Soho, Chichester, 2009 and Shena Mason (ed.), Matthew Boulton: selling what all the world desires, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, New Haven and London, 2009. 1. Samuel Bradford, A Plan of Birmingham, 1751, extract showing Snow Hill where Boulton senior’s workshops were located, Birmingham Archives and Heritage (BAH). 2. Sir Benjamin Stone, Soho Manufactory in 1863, photograph, BAH. 3. Matthew Boulton’s Soho House, Manufactory and Mint c.1805., extract showing layout of manufactory. Artwork by Bremner and Orr based on research and drawing by George Demidowicz. 4. Unknown artist, Derby Silk Mill, from The Copper Plate Magazine. 5. Stebbing Shaw, Josiah Wedgwood’s Etruria, 1769, watercolour, Staffordshire Views Collection, William Salt Library (SV). 6. Unknown artist, engr. Pallent, Albion Mill, from The European Magazine. 7. Unknown photographer, Matthew Boulton’s Livery Street warehouse, 1787-8, photograph taken in 1932. From Transactions and Proceedings Birmingham Archaeological Society, Vol. LVI, 1932. 8. Unknown artist, BATIMENT VÛ PAR DEVANT and BATIMENT VÛ PAR DERRIERE, etching, c.1769, BAH. Catalogue 1. 9. Francis Eginton, Boulton & Fothergill Située a Soho prés de Birmingham, aquatint and etching, 1773, SV. 10. Unknown artist, A Perspective View of Soho Manufactory near Birmingham, from Swinney’s New Birmingham Directory, 1774, etching, BAH. Catalogue 2. 11. Unknown artist, frontispiece to Pye’s Birmingham Directory, line and stipple engraving, 1791, BAH. 12. Unknown artist, Soho Insurance Society, full poster with rules, etching and engraving, 1792, Birmingham Assay Office. Catalogue 3. 13. Unknown artist, Soho Insurance Society, image only, etching and engraving, 1792, BAH. Catalogue 3. 14. Unknown artist, Soho Insurance Society, detail showing misalignment of text and image, etching and engraving, 1792, Birmingham Assay Office. Catalogue 3. 15. Conjectural plan of Soho estate in 1794 based on research and drawing by Phillada Ballard. 16. Conjectural plan of Soho estate in 1809 based on research and drawing by Phillada Ballard. 17. Unknown photographer, Soho House in 1863, BAH. 18. Morris after Joseph Barber, Soho from the 1796 edition of The Tablet, etching, 1795, BAH. Catalogue 4. 19. John Phillp with Amos Green, Soho Manufactory, pen, ink, pencil and crayon, c.1797-8, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery (BMAG). Catalogue 24. 20. Unknown artist, Soho Manufactory, watercolour, c.1797, SV. 21. Unknown artist, The Principal Building at Soho, watercolour, c.1797, SV. 22. Unknown artist, Soho House, watercolour, c.1796-8, SV. 23. Unknown artist, Plan and section of Soho Manufactory showing routes taken by robbers, pen and wash, 1801, BAH. Catalogue 12. 24. Unknown artist, View of the Front of SOHO MANUFACTORY, pen and wash, 1801, BAH. Catalogue 13. 25. Unknown artist, View of BROOK ROW & the back of the MANUFACTORY, pen and wash, 1801,