Lord Raby’s silver wine cistern,
maker’s mark of Philip Rollos senior, Britannia standard,
London, 1705/06,
engraved with the arms of Queen Anne,
which is to be offered for sale in the Treasures sale at Sotheby’s,
London, on 6 July;
weighing over 80kg (2,500 troy ounces),
and measuring 129.5cm (51in) over handles,
it is expected to realize between £1.5  and 2.5 million.
(photo: Sotheby’s, London)

Last week The Daily Telegraph published a photograph taken at Sotheby’s, London, of 19 month old Leo emerging happily from what looked like a silver bath. This was no gimmick, however, because the ‘bath’ was actually a 300 year old cistern or wine cooler which has been sent for sale and the photograph, complete with baby Leo, demonstrated to perfection the vessel’s enormous size. In fact, of the ten such cisterns made at the expense of the public purse during Queen Anne’s reign, this was the largest and heaviest.

Created between about September 1705 and 9 May 1706 in the workshops of Philip Rollos, this wonderful object has descended in the present owner, the Marquis of Lothian’s family since it was made. Even more extraordinary is that it has evaded the notice of connoisseurs of old English silver, including the late Dr Norman Penzer who in 1957 published a list of what he thought were all 25 or so surviving cisterns. Furthermore, it is only within the past  three months that the precise origin of the piece has come to light.

The cistern originally belonged to Thomas Wentworth, 3rd Baron Raby (1672-1739); it formed part of his allocation of silver and silver-gilt when Queen Anne’s Ambassador to Berlin between 1706 and 1711. The magnificent size of the piece, together with the noble effect of his other plate were calculated to add lustre both to Raby’s office and to him personally as a trusted representative of the British monarch.

Lord Raby’s great wine cistern recently in a photographic studio at Sotheby’s
(photo: Sotheby’s, London)