One of a pair of wine coolers or ice pails commissioned by George II as part of the ambassadorial silver of Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield.
The buckets are unusual in several respects; they are the earliest example of 18th century English silver to incorporate large areas of figurative chasing, an element which was to become more significant in the rococo silver of the 1730s; they are heavier than any of the other English coolers' and their decoration is more elaborate than almost any other cooler known today. This work was acquired with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.
Artists include
Provenance
Royal Jewel House, London; Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.