Of George III vintage and subsequently restored, the cooler attracted a bid of £22,000 at Bonham’s (15/10 per cent buyer’s premium) sale of English and Continental furniture in London on November 3.
The best-selling lot at the same sale was a pair of satinwood and tulipwood inlaid demi-lune pier tables, c.1785, each with a crossbanded top and fluted inlaid frieze on square tapered legs with concaved feet, measuring 3ft 21/2in wide by 173/4in deep (98 x 45cm) which were estimated at £6000-8000 and sold at £42,000.
For babies or bottles?
UK: IT MAY have been a mahogany wine cooler, but did its massive proportions and one-time residence in St Alban’s Cathedral suggest that it had formerly been used as a christening bath for babies rather than for beverages?
