Object Type
Salvers and waiters were trays carried by servants to present food and drink to diners with a ceremonial and formal politeness. Etiquette books of the late 18th century recommended that servants should 'give nothing but on a waiter'. The word 'salver' may derive from the Spanish salvar (meaning to preserve ), a reminder that it was necessary for food to be tasted before eating or drinking, especially for the heads of state in the medieval period, when poisoning was a real threat. Large salvers could also be used as glamorous display pieces on the dining-room buffets which returned to fashion in the late 18th century.

People
The wine cooler was ordered by Charles, 4th Earl of Tankerville, after his marriage to Emma Colebrooke in 1771. The arms of both form the central decoration of the salver. Tankerville was reported to be 'a very haughty honourable man ... but very communicative and entertaining ... His only remaining passion is for clever men, of which description he considers himself as one, tho' certainly unjustly'. The wine cooler was made by the silversmith Charles Frederick Kandler (active 1735-1778), now believed to be a family member and successor to the Rococo silversmith Charles Kandler (active 1727-1750), who emigrated from Germany to London in the 1720s.