On view through August 2, the Speed Art Museum presents “English Silver from the Age of Matthew Boulton, The James C. Codell Jr Collection.”
Over the span of 30 years, Codell of Winchester, Ky., collected the work of innovative English industrialist Matthew Boulton. Codell’s foresight created one of the world’s great collections of silver, silver plate and other metalwork produced by Boulton’s firm between the 1760s and the 1820s.
From richly gilded candelabra to sparkling silver tureens, this exhibition captures the elegance of the English table during the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. This collection was given to the Speed Art Museum so that others might enjoy the artistry of Boulton’s creations.
An elegant dessert table serves as the centerpiece for this exhibition. This table suggests the taste of a well-to-do English home of about 1815. Fitted out with candelabra and an épergne atop a newly fashionable mirrored plateau, the table sits ready for the final course: dessert. A collection of paintings and prints that reflect the faces and fashions of Matthew Boulton’s era fill the gallery’s walls.
The Speed Art Museum is at 2035 South Third Street. For information, 502-634-2700 or www.speedmuseum.org .
