Boulton 2009 News

FIRST BOULTON 2009 WORKSHOP GOES BACK TO HIS ROOTS - Added 27.11.07

The Birmingham Assay Office is a partner in all of the projects to celebrate the bicentenary of Matthew Boulton’s death in 2009 - and rightly so, as it is the only
remaining functioning enterprise with which Boulton was involved.

As part of the preparations for the bicentenary a series of collaborative workshops, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board, are being held. These provide a forum where academics from the University of Birmingham, the University of Central England and Museum and Heritage Practitioners from the West Midlands can discuss the opportunities for researching all aspects of Boulton’s life and work to ensure that the celebrations in 2009 reach the widest possible audience.

The first of the workshops was held at Soho House, Boulton’s own house, on September
26, and the Curator at The Birmingham Assay Office, Dr. Sally Baggott, gave a paper on ‘Boulton and Birmingham Toys’. Sally said: “To give this paper in the very place that
Matthew Boulton called home, and where the original manufactory stood made it all the more special for me. Toys are an integral part of the Boulton story; they gave him the experience to become a player on an international stage, and they are what put Birmingham at the centre of global markets in the 18th century.”

The next AHRC funded workshop takes place on October 11 at The Birmingham Assay Office when Sir Nicholas Goodison, an expert on Boulton’s ormolu work, Professor Ken Quickenden, who has written extensively on Boulton’s silver, and Scott Erbes, Senior Curator of the Speed Museum, Chicago, will be the speakers. Sally told us: “The firstworkshop was an enormous success in terms of meeting the objectives of this
project, and we are really looking forward to welcoming such distinguished speakers toThe Birmingham Assay Office.”

Picture: Sally Baggott and Richard Clay at Soho House

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