The ormolu of Matthew Boulton.(Mathew Boulton: Ormolu by Nicholas Goodison)(Book Review)

Matthew Boulton: Ormolu, by, Nicholas Goodison (Christie's Books, distributed by Antique Collectors' Club 800-252-5231), $140.00 (hardcovers).

Matthew Boulton is best known for collaborating with James Watt on a steam engine and for creating the stamping presses the Royal Mint in London used from 1805 until 1882. The manufacture of ormolu was a distinctly minor activity at the renowned Soho manufactory near Birmingham operated by the partnership of Boulton and John Fothergill. Yet Nicholas Goodison writes in Matthew Boulton: Ormolu: "with the possible exception of…