Perfume burners were used to dispel the odour of food. This piece divides into two chambers. The lower one was for burning charcoal which vaporised the perfume contained in the upper. The scented smoke would then waft out through the pierced body.

Large sculptural objects for display had always been an important feature of aristocratic and princely silver. But Restoration England commented with disapproval upon the extravagance of the latest fashion (imported from France) for massive silver furniture, chandeliers, wine cisterns and other heavy types of plate. Impressive and monumental Baroque silver of this kind had a particular appeal for Arthur Gilbert.

Sir Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert began collecting in the 1960s and over a period of 40 years formed one of the world’s great private collections of decorative arts. The collection consists of over 800 objects from the fields of European gold and silver, Italian mosaics and hardstone, portrait enamels and gold boxes. Sir Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996 to be housed at Somerset House, London, having previously been displayed at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 2008 the collection was moved to dedicated galleries in the V&A, where a selection has been on permanent display ever since.