A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE SILVER-SHAPED WINE COOLERS Qianlong period, circa 1760-70 The coolers of European silver shape with molded lobes to the slightly narrower sides with rocaille down-curving handles, the flatter main faces painted in bright enamels with loose scattered composite flower sprays of primarily chrysanthemum and peony below a band of leafy flowerheads at the molded and shaped, brown-dressed rim, the spreading lightly lobed foot with iron-red and gilt spearheads, the interiors plain. 12in (30cm) across handles (2). Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1760-70年 粉彩銀器型冰酒桶一對 Published Cohen & Cohen, Take Two!, Antwerp, 2017, pp. 76-77, no. 32 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Take Two!》，安特衛普，2017年，頁76-77，圖版編號32 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. As often happened, changes in the conventions about the polite way to behave in Society were set at the highest level, the Royal Court, where the monarch supported or suggested innovations which were quickly picked up by courtiers and hence filtered down into broader society. One example of the way in which social behaviors changed under Court inspiration is the introduction of the non-alcoholic but stimulating leaf tea to England in 1662 by the new wife of King Charles II of England, Catherine of Braganza. When she relocated from Portugal to join King Charles, she is said to have packed loose-leaf tea as part of her personal belongings; it would also have likely been part of her dowry. An unsubstantiated legend has it that the crates were marked Transporte de Ervas Aromaticas (Transport of Aromatic Herbs) – later abbreviated to T.E.A. Other innovations sponsored or supported at Court level are said to be the serving of fresher food, moving the kitchen in country houses to be closer to the main dining hall to facilitate hotter food being served, creating Ladies Withdrawing Rooms in which aristocratic ladies could quite legitimately entertain other ladies without a male intrusion, using imported porcelain as table wares and for serving tea, coffee and chocolate...and serving wine. Wine coolers 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 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.