A MAGNIFICENT SET OF FOUR REGENCY SILVER-GILT WINE COOLERS
THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 
A MAGNIFICENT SET OF FOUR REGENCY SILVER-GILT WINE COOLERS

MARK OF PAUL STORR, LONDON, 1813

Details
A MAGNIFICENT SET OF FOUR REGENCY SILVER-GILT WINE COOLERS
MARK OF PAUL STORR, LONDON, 1813
Each on spreading circular foot with tied laurel, the lower body with a band of acanthus, grapes and tendrils and with a band of guilloche above, the upper body applied with festoons of vine tendrils and with ram's-mask handles and fluted everted rim, the detachable cast collars with trailing vines on a matted ground, with cylindrical liners, the foot engraved with a Viscount's armorials, the rim and liners with a coronet and crest within a garter; each marked on body, collar, and liner; the bases stamped RUNDELL BRIDGE ET RUNDELL AURIFICES REGIS ET PRINCIPIS WALLIAE REGENTIS BRITANNIAS
11 in. (28 cm.) high; 689 oz. (21,407 gr.) (4)
Provenance
The Trustees of the Knole Estates, sold Christie's, 20 May 1987, lot 190
Literature
Charles Jackson, An Illustrated History of English Plate, 1967, vol. 2, fig 1030, p. 797
N.M. Penzer, Paul Storr, 1954, pl. XLI
Christie's Review of the Season 1987, p. 315
The Glory of the Goldsmith: Magnificent Gold and Silver from the Al-Tajir Collection, 1989, no. 139, p. 180

Lot Essay

The arms are those of Whitworth with Cope in pretence as borne by Charles, 1st Earl Whitworth (1752-1825)

The lure of classical antiquity during the Regency era is reflected in both the form and iconography of these vases. The coolers' form draws upon the famous Medici Krater, engraved by Piranesi in Vasi, Candelabri, etc. of 1778, whose illustrations provided a fresh vocabulary to silver designers.

The ram's-mask handles and grapevine festoons clearly evoke the Roman wine god Bacchus, an allusion to the coolers' function. As a child, the son of Zeus and Semele was transformed into a ram to evade the vengeful wrath of Zeus's wife, Hera. With his true identity hidden, Bacchus was raised by nymphs on Mount Nysa, where he invented wine.

The use of gilding on these wine coolers not only reflects the extravagance of the Regency period, but also is another direct reference to antiquity. As art historian Ubaldo Vitali has noted, neoclassical artists and scholars of the late 18th century imagined the splendors of Imperial Rome awash in a golden aura; its greatest embodiment was Nero's house of gold, the Domus Aurea. Eager to symbolize notions of their own imperial stature, Napoleon, the Prince Regent and their courts readily adopted the fashion for gilding silver in the classical style.

The present coolers were commissioned by Charles, Earl Whitworth in 1813, the year he was appointed Viceroy of Ireland after a notable diplomatic career in the Polish, Russian, Danish and French courts. In 1801 he had married Arabella Diana, widow of John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. Penzer recorded a total of eight wine coolers of this design at Knole, seat of the Dukes of Dorset. Two dating to 1812 and two to 1813 do not bear engraved armorials. The present set of four, engraved with the Earl's armorials, remained at Knole until sold by the Trustees in 1987.

A pair of Storr wine coolers of the same design and year sold on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines, Christie's, New York, January 10, 1991, lot 37.

More from Important Silver, Russian Works of Art and Objects of Vertu

View All
View All