Did Boulton Sell Silver Plate to the Middle Class? A Quantitative Study of Luxury Marketing in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain

Abstract

This article analyzes sales of silver plate to different social classes by Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), an English entrepreneur and manufacturer. He claimed that efficient techniques used in his manufactory would decrease prices so that less affluent people could afford silver plate. Data from this research show that the vast majority of his orders came from the upper classes. Obviously, there was a disjunction between Boulton’s claim and his actions. We believe that this is the first quantitative study of the social-class composition of customers for a luxury product from a single factory. It marks a step (however tentative) in the measurement of luxury marketing in the late eighteenth century to consumers other than the rich.