Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Oval wine cooler of tapering sarcophagus form, mahogany, lined with lead, standing on a plain banded frame with four moulded block feet, the front carved with serpentine flutes radiating from a circular ormolu plaque cast and chased with an eagle, which become vertical flutes at the back, banded with brass above and below. Upper part banded with veneered mahogany below the gadrooned brass lip, applied at each end with lion masks and foliate ring handles.

This large wine cooler was designed for the dining or ‘eating room’ of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn’s house in St James’s Square. It was used to chill bottles of wine and is in the form of a Roman sarcophagus or coffin. It bears a medallion of an eagle, the crest of the Wynn family as well as a symbol of ancient Rome.