Lot Essay
This wine cooler is virtually identical and with identical mounts to two pairs supplied by Thomas Chippendale to the 5th Earl of Dumfries for Dumfries House, Ayrshire, Scotland in 1759 and 1763 (illustrated in C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, 1978, vol. II, p. 78, fig. 121). The first pair appears in an invoice dated 5 May 1759 as 'Two large mahogany oval cisterns wt. brass hoops and handles...£4-- (C. Gilbert, op. cit., vol. I, p. 138). The second pair was ordered along with other furnishings after the Earl's second marriage to Anne, daughter of William Duff of Crombie in 1762. This pair is similarly invoiced but at a cost of £4 4s. Another cooler of this form from Cannon Hall, Yorkshire is also attributed to Chippendale (ibid, vol. II, p. 78, fig. 120 and 123).