Lot Essay
The wine cistern or wine cooler is the grandest part of the display plate which would have graced a great buffet. It was this that Thomas Watson-Wentworth chose as the first component of what was to be one of the grandest of buffet displays of the period. The cistern, as its name suggests, would have held water used for the rinsing of glasses and for cooling the glasses prior to them being refilled with wine. Often a wine fountain accompanies the cistern, which would have acted as a reservoir for the water. The glasses would have been rinsed beneath the tap and the water collected in the cistern beneath. Cisterns were also used for the cooling of wine flasks or bottles in water or ice.
The use of a cistern for dining dates back to the 15th century as illustrated by Dr. N.M. Penzer in his article, Apollo, The Great Wine-Coolers I, November 1955, p. 3, with a woodcut from Michael Wolgmuth, Schatzbehalter oder Schrein der wahren Reichtmer des Heils und ewiger Seligkeit, Nuremberg, 1491. Samuel Pepys records the purchase of a wine cistern in his diary on 14 March 1667. Cisterns were often of pewter but also of other materials such as pottery as with a 16th century example in the Victoria and Albert Museum with dolphin mask and drop ring handles. These early examples were oval in shape and often on four feet formed as lion paws, as shown in a painting from 1616 of Ladies and Gentleman Carousing, by Dirk Hals.
The huge quantity of silver used in the manufacture of a silver wine cistern made it an attractive prospect for melting. Changes in fashion and the demands placed on Royal and aristocratic plate collections, for economic reasons or war, has meant no pre-Commonwealth English examples survive. We know from the few extant 16th century plate inventories that cisterns were a part of grand plate collections. The inventory of Queen Elizabeth I's plate conducted in 1574 lists 'Oone great Sesterne of siluer to serve for a cupbourd poiz VcXXVdim.' The weight of this cistern was 525½ozs., close to the weight of the present lot. It was also intended to stand on a cupboard of estate or buffet, rather than the floor. Further contemporary accounts record that it was in the care of the Groom Porter whose job it was to organise furnishings for the Royal Lodgings, therefore it must be assumed the cistern was seen as silver furniture rather than plate, which came under the control of the Master of the Jewel House. Wine cisterns were used by the Jacobean court as shown by Dr. N. M. Penzer, op. cit., p. 39, in the second of his two articles on wine coolers. He illustrates a painting of the King and Queen of Bohemia dining at Whitehall, by Gerard Houckgeest, 1634, where an oval cistern on four claw feet stands in the foreground. This huge cistern is likely to have been similar to a vast example of some 1,000ozs. granted by Royal Warrant in 1672 to King Charles' mistress Louise Renée de Kéroualle. The end of the 17th century saw some of the most massive cisterns being commissioned, with the return to prosperity and political stability after the succession of William and Mary. The Earl of Devonshire was supplied with a cistern weighing some 3,496ozs. in 1687 and later, during the reign of Queen Anne in 1710, a cistern of 3,444ozs. was supplied to the Duke of Newcastle. These huge examples would almost certainly have followed the earlier form of a relatively shallow oval basin on three paw or scroll feet such as that supplied by Philip Rollos to the Duke of Marlborough in 1701, illustrated in A Loan Exhibition of Old English Plate, London, 1929, Exhibition Catalogue, no. 389, now in the collection of Earl Spencer, or another of 1682 from the collection of the Dukes of Portland, illustrated in C. Jackson, History of Old English Plate, London, 1911, pl. LXXXV. Towards the end of the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century the paw or scroll feet are replaced in many instances by an oval foot and with the addition of scroll handles, with either grotesque masks or crest terminals. One of the earliest examples with a single oval foot is that by the Huguenot silversmith Pierre Harache of 1697, later presented by Queen Anne to the Surgeons' Company. The oval foot and short stem allowed greater use of the fashionable French cut-card work, the earlier cisterns having been lobed or chased with foliage. This change of form might also have been related to the change of use of cisterns with greater numbers being placed on a sideboard or buffet rather than being stood directly on the floor. The magnificent Macclesfield suite of wine fountain, small cistern and large cooler commissioned by the 1st Earl of Macclesfield in 1719 is a unique survival. Its sale to the Victoria and Albert Museum was recently negotiated by Christie's and it was the subject of an article by Philippa Glanville, Keeper of Metalwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum, (see Christie's International Magazine, Dining in Splendour, March, 1998, p.42.). The two cisterns or coolers illustrate a division of use not normally seen. Macclesfield's wealth, and his wish to impress, led him to commission two cisterns. The largest (1,552ozs., 43½in. long) would have been used to cool the wine and the smaller (357ozs., 25.5in. long) would have been used in conjunction with the fountain for rinsing glasses. The present lot, larger than the small cistern, but smaller than the large cooler, could have been used for both tasks, though no fountain is recorded in the Watson-Wentworth records.
David Willaume uses the bacchic lion or leopard for the handle terminals of the Rockingham Cistern. The leopard pulled the wine god Bacchus' chariot and he was clothed in a lion's pelt. The bacchic theme is further used in the fine engraving in the bowl of the cistern. Watson-Wentworth had yet to be raised to the peerage therefore his arms have no heraldic supporters. The engraver substitutes demi-bacchic putti clasping vine garlands to frame the elaborate cartouche. Perhaps the most striking element of the cistern, apart from its condition and size is the fineness of the anonymous engraver's work. The role of the engraver was seen as a lowly one in contrast to that of the silversmith and although much work has been done to identify the work of engravers such as Benjamin Rhodes, Joseph Sympson and others, it has not been possible to attribute these arms to a known hand. The bold shadows and sophisticated handling point to an accomplished engraver of either French training or influence.
The maker commissioned to produce this grandest of display plate was the celebrated Huguenot silversmith David Willaume. He was one of the leading silversmiths of the early 18th century and numbered some of the greatest aristocrats of the age as his patrons. A. Grimwade in London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837, Their Marks and Their Lives, London, 1982, pp.703-704 states it to be impossible to single one pre-eminent masterpiece amongst his surviving work. His long career, which stretched from the late 17th century to his retirement in 1728, included a remarkable number of great works. Not long before Willaume's retirement, Lord Watson-Wentworth commissioned further grand display plate from him, with the ordering of a magnificent ewer and basin to commemorate his achievement in being conferred a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. This ewer and basin was sold by the Trustees of Olive, Countess Fitzwilliam's Chattels Settlement, Christie's London, 27 November 1991, lot 121. The extent of the 1st Marquess' silver collection, which included other works by Willaume, and also pieces by George Wicks, Nicholas Sprimont, Paul Crespin and Frederick Kandler, can be seen from an inventory produced for the 4th Earl Fitwilliam in 1838. There were 1,779ozs. of silver with the arms of Thomas Wentworth, 746ozs. of silver with the arms of Baron Malton, 3,393ozs. with the arms of the Earl of Malton and a further 2,632ozs. with the arms of the Marquess of Rockingham.
The use of a cistern for dining dates back to the 15th century as illustrated by Dr. N.M. Penzer in his article, Apollo, The Great Wine-Coolers I, November 1955, p. 3, with a woodcut from Michael Wolgmuth, Schatzbehalter oder Schrein der wahren Reichtmer des Heils und ewiger Seligkeit, Nuremberg, 1491. Samuel Pepys records the purchase of a wine cistern in his diary on 14 March 1667. Cisterns were often of pewter but also of other materials such as pottery as with a 16th century example in the Victoria and Albert Museum with dolphin mask and drop ring handles. These early examples were oval in shape and often on four feet formed as lion paws, as shown in a painting from 1616 of Ladies and Gentleman Carousing, by Dirk Hals.
The huge quantity of silver used in the manufacture of a silver wine cistern made it an attractive prospect for melting. Changes in fashion and the demands placed on Royal and aristocratic plate collections, for economic reasons or war, has meant no pre-Commonwealth English examples survive. We know from the few extant 16th century plate inventories that cisterns were a part of grand plate collections. The inventory of Queen Elizabeth I's plate conducted in 1574 lists 'Oone great Sesterne of siluer to serve for a cupbourd poiz V
David Willaume uses the bacchic lion or leopard for the handle terminals of the Rockingham Cistern. The leopard pulled the wine god Bacchus' chariot and he was clothed in a lion's pelt. The bacchic theme is further used in the fine engraving in the bowl of the cistern. Watson-Wentworth had yet to be raised to the peerage therefore his arms have no heraldic supporters. The engraver substitutes demi-bacchic putti clasping vine garlands to frame the elaborate cartouche. Perhaps the most striking element of the cistern, apart from its condition and size is the fineness of the anonymous engraver's work. The role of the engraver was seen as a lowly one in contrast to that of the silversmith and although much work has been done to identify the work of engravers such as Benjamin Rhodes, Joseph Sympson and others, it has not been possible to attribute these arms to a known hand. The bold shadows and sophisticated handling point to an accomplished engraver of either French training or influence.
The maker commissioned to produce this grandest of display plate was the celebrated Huguenot silversmith David Willaume. He was one of the leading silversmiths of the early 18th century and numbered some of the greatest aristocrats of the age as his patrons. A. Grimwade in London Goldsmiths, 1697-1837, Their Marks and Their Lives, London, 1982, pp.703-704 states it to be impossible to single one pre-eminent masterpiece amongst his surviving work. His long career, which stretched from the late 17th century to his retirement in 1728, included a remarkable number of great works. Not long before Willaume's retirement, Lord Watson-Wentworth commissioned further grand display plate from him, with the ordering of a magnificent ewer and basin to commemorate his achievement in being conferred a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. This ewer and basin was sold by the Trustees of Olive, Countess Fitzwilliam's Chattels Settlement, Christie's London, 27 November 1991, lot 121. The extent of the 1st Marquess' silver collection, which included other works by Willaume, and also pieces by George Wicks, Nicholas Sprimont, Paul Crespin and Frederick Kandler, can be seen from an inventory produced for the 4th Earl Fitwilliam in 1838. There were 1,779ozs. of silver with the arms of Thomas Wentworth, 746ozs. of silver with the arms of Baron Malton, 3,393ozs. with the arms of the Earl of Malton and a further 2,632ozs. with the arms of the Marquess of Rockingham.