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Wine enthusiasts will appreciate the historical function of the fine German centerpiece, correctly referred to as a “monteith.” This vessel was originally fashioned to rinse and cool wine glasses. The notches around the edge of the bowl’s rim are designed to support wine glass stems—suspended by their base - allowing for the bowls of the glasses to cool in a bath of ice-water while the foot of the glass remains dry. Tradition dictated that one did not have one’s own wine glass at the table — instead one signaled a footman to bring a full glass to the table. Once the wine was drunk, the glass was collected, rinsed and cooled in the monteith until it was called upon by the next guest. Functioning today as an elegant centerpiece, this monteith is also an exceptional example of German silversmithing, with its Baroque architectural ornament and cast masks. It boasts an impressive provenance, once forming part of the collection of Earl Brownlow, one of England’s most significant silver collectors.

Polished Provenance
For the last fifty years the monteith has resided with the renowned collection of Professor and Mrs. Clifford Ambrose Truesdell, from Baltimore, Maryland. The delightfully exotic couple’s myriad artistic interests ranged from Baroque music and fine silver to European paintings and Italian architecture, and these tastes shone through in the impressive works of art they collected. Property from their collection is being offered across Christie’s spring auctions of Silver, English and European Furniture, and Old Master Paintings in New York.