Catalogues

Boulton and Paul

A Norwich based company, dating back to 1797 when records show that they had an ironmonger’s shop on Cockey Lane in the city, which ws retained until 1869, despite having moved production to the Rose lane Foundry several years earlier.

Like the Wolverhampton firm of Bayliss, Jones and Bayliss, the main focus of the Boulton and Paul output was the production of gates, fencing and metal structures such as farm buildings and shepherd’s huts, constructed in corrugated iron – an example of which can be viewed at the Chiltern Open Air Museum, although this is a mission hall building rather than a farm structure.

In terms of decorative works, the firm are best appreciated for the involvement of the influential designer Thomas Jeckyll, whose style was both novel and influential then and increasingly collectible now. Whist he designed gates for the company, he was also responsible for interior fittings such as fireplaces. His combination of influences and interest in natural forms places him alongside such celebrated figures as William Morris and Christopher Dresser.

A reproduction of a Jeckyl design was chosen for inclusion as a ceiling rose for the bandstand designed and produced by Lost Art Limited for Beaumont Park in Huddersfield.

The Lost Art Limited archive includes an original copy of a Boulton and Paul catalogue. Although the company did produce some benches, as their focus was more on wrought rather than cast iron, in comparison with their mainly Scottish contemporaries, their range of seating included a greater number of wrought iron based benches rather than featuring decorative cast iron ends.

Lost Art Limited do produce a number of benches that are similar in style to both the wrought and cast iron benches offered by Bolton and Paul.