Ice pail
Chamberlain and Company
Category
Ceramics
Date
1816 - 1817
Materials
Soft paste porcelain
Measurements
8 x 13 in
Place of origin
Worcester
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 205070
Summary
Ice pail (one of a pair), soft paste porcelain, 'Warwick vase' shape, standing on square base with flared foot, pedestal, bulbous lower body and concave upper body with wide, open rim, two handles formed of interlinked ropes, Chamberlain & Co, Worcester, ca 1816; 'Union' embossed pattern of rose, thistle and shamrock to the upper body on a drab coloured ground, the lower body hand painted in naturalistic enamels with tulip, rose, peony and morning glory, moulded vine leaf border beneath rim with gilt details, the base painted with a marble effect in orange and brown enamels.
Full description
An ice pail was filled with ice and used to cool bottles of wine. This open, uncovered form of ice pail is based on an extremely large Roman marble vase discovered at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli in 1771. It was given to George Greville, the Earl of Warwick and became known as the ‘Warwick vase.’ The ice pails were part of a large dessert service made in 1816 for Princess Charlotte to mark her marriage to Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Along with six Warwick ice pails, the service included shell shaped dishes, stands for fruit, melon dishes, heart-shaped dishes and cream bowls. The Royal connection is expressed in their decoration, with the low relief band of roses, thistle and shamrock representing the countries of the United Kingdom. Chamberlain & Co had been appointed as porcelain makers to the Princess in 1814 and she ordered a number of richly decorated desert and dinner services soon after. The service is described by Binns in his history of the Worcester factory (1865), as a modification of an old Sèvres pattern, ‘the arched scrolls raised so as to form panels, in which were embossed the rose, thistle and shamrock ; the ground was a drab colour, and the centres of the plates were enriched with groups of flowers.' The ice pails were exhibited at the International Exhibition of Antiques and Works of Art, organized by the Daily Telegraph at Olympia, in 1928. They were then owned by Mrs Dora Radford, the first President of the English Ceramic Circle. They were purchased for Wimpole by George and Elsie Bambridge at the sale of Radford's collection in 1943.
Provenance
Part of the Bambridge Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976 by Mrs Elsie Bambridge (1896-1976)
Makers and roles
Chamberlain and Company, manufacturer
References
Binns, Richard William, 1819-1900. century of potting in the city of Worcester / 1865., p. 154 Godden, 1992: Geoffrey Godden, Chamberlain-Worcester Porcelain 1788-1852, p.101; see fig. 155 for a differently decorated 'Union' service