Walpole Wine Cooler

Antique silver plated The Met x Eichholtz presents the Object Walpole, inspired by a pair of silver wine coolers (1716/17) made in the French style by William Lukin I (British, active 1699– ca.1755) for Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Our contemporary interpretation of the original wine cooler features a silver plated antiqued finish, blending historical elegance with modern sophistication. HISTORIC PROVENANCE Our design is inspired by a pair of 18th-century wine coolers made for Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, who displayed them in the dining room of his grand country home called Houghton Hall. Such spectacular vessels designed to hold individual wine bottles were a novelty, and epitomized  the fashionable taste and opulence of one of the wealthiest men in 18th-century England.