When Matthew Boulton created his Soho works, just two miles outside the city of Birmingham, he claimed to have created the largest manufactory in the world. In partnership with John Fothergill since 1762, Boulton claimed, just a decade later, to have to feed one thousand mouths. Using revolutionary production techniques such as the division of labour, he produced a wide variety of consumer goods such as 'small toys', buttons, buckles, boxes and japanned wares.Boulton's house, Soho House, was opened as a museum in 1995, and contains a wide selection from Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery's outstanding collections of Boulton metalwork - including Sheffield plate, ormolu, silver, toys, coins and medals. |