A FINE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'EUROPEAN SILVER-SHAPED' TWO-HANDLED WINE COOLERS Qianlong period, circa 1770 Each enameled in bright colors on both sides of the vertically molded lobed body with a large, long single spray of flowering tree peony, beneath a wavy relief-molded double band and indented rim, applied at both sides with a freestanding loop handle. 8 1/2in (21.4cm) across (2). Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1770年 粉彩《歐洲銀器型》雙耳冰酒桶一對 Published Cohen & Cohen, Tiptoe through the Tulipieres, Hong Kong, 2008, p. 48, no. 31 Cohen & Cohen, Take Two!, Antwerp, 2017, pp. 78-79, no. 33 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tiptoe through the Tulipieres》，香港，2008年，頁48，圖版編號31 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Take Two!》，安特衛普，2017年，頁78-79，圖版編號33 One of the most interesting components in the fascinating history of Chinese Export porcelain is the way in which it is possible to track the emergence of new unfamiliar shapes among Export wares created in China, which reflect fairly quickly social developments of one kind of another in Europe. This handsome pair of wine coolers represent one of these evolutions in the West. Wine began to be served in different ways during the 18th century, and the change in behavior prompted the creation of new accessories for the dining room. Very often new trends were set at Europe's richest and most socially prominent Palace, the long-running Court of 'le Roi Soleil', Louis XIV at Versailles. As new types of food began to be created by his imaginative chefs setting out to impress, so it was necessary to create appropriate vessels in which to serve them to guests. It is therefore normally the case that the Chinese Export porcelain versions of sauce boats, salt cellars, wine coolers, salad bowls, custard cups, soup plates, meat and soup plates, and other forms of dining vessels, all first appeared as very grand European ones made in silver or gold. This is certainly true of wine coolers. They appear in a variety of shapes, but the most handsome are normally the ones molded in flamboyant rococo shapes clearly imitating French and English silver shapes. Indeed, some actually bear the coat-of-arms of the aristocratic patrons who commissioned them as an amusing (but demonstrably still expensive and exotic) contrast to the top families who would cram their 'buffet' (display shelves for family bullion) with the finest gold and silver vessels. But it was not just the shape of these wine coolers which makes them historically interesting. Their function too is novel. Traditionally, in many societies, it was the norm to serve wine unchilled; if preferred chilled, it was the mug or glass that was chilled, not the wine. This tradition had given rise to the creation of 'Monteiths', circular bowls with deep notches around the rim to accommodate wine glasses suspended by the stem with the bowls buried in ice filling the Monteith. (see lot 137) Wine buckets reversed this less efficient cooling process, enabling hosts to chill the wine contained in bottles standing in ice, so that there was no need to chill each glass. This clearly proved a very convenient innovation, and quite a number of Chinese Export wine coolers have survived, attractively enameled with different patterns, to attest the popularity of this change. References: Mézin 2002, p. 75, no. 58, for a famille rose pair of the same size and form but with different flowers, in the Musée de L'Orient; Brawer 1992, p. 145, for a single blue and white example; Huitfeldt 1993, p. 66, for another famille rose version; and Cohen & Cohen, 2008, no. 31, for a similar pair. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Without reserve