This remarkable wine cooler forms part of a small group of octagonal examples all made during the early years of the 18th century. A pair of conforming design by William Lukin and made in London in 1716 for Sir Robert Walpole are now in the Untermyer Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated in Y. Hackenbroch, English and other Silver in the Urwin Untermyer Collection, New York, 1969, no. 125. Included in the celebrated Strawberry Hill sale, 6 May 1842, lot 127, they were described as "A pair of splendid octagon WINE COOLERS..." They sold for (208 17s. 9d. As the Untermyer catalogue points out their shape and ornament strongly reflect French influences and refers to a pair of late 17th century silver-gilt cache-pots in the Louvre from which these coolers take their design.

David Willuame was undoubtably one of the most distinguished goldsmiths of his generation and enjoyed the patronage of the wealthiest nobility in England. His business, which also included banking, was a commercial success and he was an outstanding member of the Huguenot community in London. A number of other wine coolers by Willaume are known including the earliest recorded English pair of 1698 in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire. Another pair by him, circa 1710, and made for Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby and 3rd Earl of Strafford which incorporate many of the design elements found in the present lot were sold Christie's, London, 23 May 1990, lot 230.