The Parker Wine Cooler
Cooler
1719-1720 (hallmarked)
1719-1720 (hallmarked)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This wine cooler is from a set of silver for serving wine. The set also includes a cistern and fountain. It would have been arranged in tiers on a sideboard in the dining room, with the large and heavy cooler generally placed on the floor. Its function was to rinse glasses and cool wine bottles. In the 18th century, wine glasses were not set on the table, but brought to each diner by a servant. When empty they were rinsed with water from the fountain, with the dirty water discarded into the cistern, and refilled from the wine bottles chilling in the cooler.
Design & Use
The form and decoration of this immense cooler matches that of the smaller cistern. It would have been filled with ice taken from a nearby ice-house. Ice-houses were introduced to Britain from France in the 1660s. They usually took the form of an underground, brick building with an entrance tunnel and a drain in the base of the wall. The ice was placed there in the winter and remained frozen through the summer months.
This wine cooler is from a set of silver for serving wine. The set also includes a cistern and fountain. It would have been arranged in tiers on a sideboard in the dining room, with the large and heavy cooler generally placed on the floor. Its function was to rinse glasses and cool wine bottles. In the 18th century, wine glasses were not set on the table, but brought to each diner by a servant. When empty they were rinsed with water from the fountain, with the dirty water discarded into the cistern, and refilled from the wine bottles chilling in the cooler.
Design & Use
The form and decoration of this immense cooler matches that of the smaller cistern. It would have been filled with ice taken from a nearby ice-house. Ice-houses were introduced to Britain from France in the 1660s. They usually took the form of an underground, brick building with an entrance tunnel and a drain in the base of the wall. The ice was placed there in the winter and remained frozen through the summer months.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Britannia standard silver, raised, embossed, chased, engraved and cast |
| Brief description | The Macclesfield Wine Set |
| Physical description | Britannia standard silver cooler with two handles and an applied coat of arms for Thomas Parker, 1st Earl Macclesfield. The large oval cooler has a gadrooned rim above which rise two handles in the form of baroque scrolls resting on inverted brackets. The bowl is decorated with an upper band of embossed and applied ornament of shells and acanthus scrolls contained within strapwork. The lower part of the bowl is decorated with a band of widely-spaced gadroons, strapwork and sunken bosses. The bowl rests on a plain stem and gadrooned foot. The coat of arms with supporters surmounted by an earl's coronet is applied centrally over the upper band of ornament. The interior of the cistern bowl is lined with plain sheet. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
FOUNTAIN, WINE CISTERN AND COOLER The practical function of these three pieces was for serving wine. Such magnificent silver was also a bold statement of the owner's wealth and sophistication. This set would have cost around £1,200 a vast sum compared with a half portrait painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller (about £35) or a coach (between £60-120). This is the only known matching set of three pieces still to survive. SALVER AND GLASSES Around 1700 wine glasses were not set on the table, but brought to each diner by a servant. A toast was drunk, the glass drained and returned, then rinsed with water from the fountain and refilled. These pieces are reproductions.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Acquired with support from Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Hugh Philips Fund, and a number of private donations |
| Object history | Made for Thomas Parker, later 1st Earl of Macclesfield (1666-1732), of Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire. Made in London by Anthony Nelme (active 1679-1722) The cooler forms part of the Macclesfield Wine Set, supplied to Thomas Parker, 1st Earl Macclesfield. It is ensuite with a fountain and identical, though smaller, cistern. The cooler was used for chilling wine bottles in the dining room. For full details, see M.25-1998 Historical significance: See M.25-1998 |
| Historical context | See M.25-1998 |
| Summary | Object Type This wine cooler is from a set of silver for serving wine. The set also includes a cistern and fountain. It would have been arranged in tiers on a sideboard in the dining room, with the large and heavy cooler generally placed on the floor. Its function was to rinse glasses and cool wine bottles. In the 18th century, wine glasses were not set on the table, but brought to each diner by a servant. When empty they were rinsed with water from the fountain, with the dirty water discarded into the cistern, and refilled from the wine bottles chilling in the cooler. Design & Use The form and decoration of this immense cooler matches that of the smaller cistern. It would have been filled with ice taken from a nearby ice-house. Ice-houses were introduced to Britain from France in the 1660s. They usually took the form of an underground, brick building with an entrance tunnel and a drain in the base of the wall. The ice was placed there in the winter and remained frozen through the summer months. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | See M.25-1998 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.27-1998 |
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| Record created | September 10, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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