SOLD - A Neo-Classical Campana Vase in Blue John or Derbyshire Fluorspar
Height: 9" 25cm
Diameter: 8" 20cm
The urn has a rollover rim, a waisted body over a turned socle. Below, the urn stands on a square black marble base. The fluor spar being a most wonderful selection of colours and superbly striated.
English, Circa 1800
First recorded in the late 17th Century, Blue-John or Derbyshire Spar, to note its geological term, is a natural coloured fluorspar found near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is said to be thermoluminescent meaning that if a sample is crushed to a powder and dropped onto a hot plate in total darkness it can be seen to emit flashes of light, releasing energy stored in its crystal structure.
The use of this wonderfully coloured mineral became increasingly popular in the second half of the eighteenth century and was fashioned into decorative objects and used for architectural purposes in decorative schemes. One of the first pioneers of this type of work was Robert Adam who is recorded as having used 'Blue John' for inlay in the interiors of nearby Kedleston Hall for Lord Scarsdale.
Blue John is most celebrated in the work of the Birmingham silversmith and ormolu-manufacturer Matthew Boulton. Boulton wrote to John Whitehurst of Derby in December of 1768 stating that he had 'found a use for Blew John which will consume some quantity of it. I mean that sort which is proper for turning into vases.' In March of the following year Boulton purchased 14 tons of this prized stone from John Platt at Castleton for a substantial sum. Undoubtedly much of this stone was destined to be mounted with his exquisitely worked ormolu which has graced homes for centuries in the forms of elegant candelabra, urns, candlesticks and perfume burners.
Boulton was not alone in his use of the Derbyshire mineral as there are records listing several further Derbyshire makers in the late 18th Century and into the 19th Century, including James Shaw who produced vases of monumental scale. By 1892 output had been reduced to 3 tons per year and is now no longer produced except in very small quantities. The total production for ornamental purposes in the last 250 years is somewhat less than 2000 tons.
 "A Neo-Classical Campana Vase in Blue John or Derbyshire Fluorspar")