Unusual Artifacts: The Parker Wine Fountain, 1719

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This famous piece of Britannia standard silver is most unusual.  A fountain with lid and tap, it takes the form of a baroque urn. The lid is surmounted by a crest in the form of a lion's head, further decorated with bands of gadrooned ornament and palmette and shell motifs in the style of the early Eighteenth Century.

 The urn gracefully bows  out from the rim and is also gadrooned as flanking  lion's masks grasp the handles in their jaws.  The sides  of the urn are decorated with an applied coat of arms and supporters (that of Thomas Parker, 1st Earl Macclesfield), each surmounted by an earl's coronet. The tap depicts a dolphin's head and a handle in the form of a baroque bow is set beneath the applied coat of arms.

Hallmarked 1719, this is the work of Anthony Nelme who designed this masterpiece as part of a grand and colossal set of silver devoted only to serving wine--including also a massive cistern and cooler meant to rest on the floor by the sideboard holding the fountain.

Now, you might think that this fountain was meant to issue forth wine.  Its use, however, was to pour water used to rinse glasses between uses.  A footman would take a used glass, rinse it, fill it with wine cooled in the cooler and offer the glass to a new guest.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Sceaux Pottery Wine Cooler, 1770

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This Seau à bouteille—a bucket-shaped cooler of tin-glazed earthenware, sports elegantly scrolled handles.  It is painted in puce and green enamels with medallions of jaunty cherubs depicting the Arts.   Each scene is given drama and importance by swags of flowers and bouquets.  The rims and moldings are beautifully gilt.

Made in France between 1770-1780 by the celebrated Sceaux Pottery  Factory, this vessel would have served to keep a carafe of wine at the proper temperature.  One of two, this cooler and its sister were bought by the Victoria & Albert Museum from the Aigoin Collection.

Mastery of Design: An Enamel Pendant Case, 1325

This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This pendant case dates to 1325 and is made from silver, silver gilt and translucent enamels. The top of the pendant features a balustrade of openwork quatrefoils, the vertical edges of which are pinnacled buttresses. Each side of this unusual case is inset with an enameled plaque.


The top panel slides to open, and the inscription “AVE MARIA GRACIA PL[ENA]” is engraved in Lombardic lettering. The enamel plaques feature heraldic and romantic scenes. 


The place of origin of this particular piece is debated, but it is believed to have come from either France or Great Britain.  Nevertheless, it was made to hold spices and scents in order to combat the rather pungent air that surrounded most cities and towns.  This personal treasure was intended to be worn around the neck, or suspended from a belt or girdle.  

Antique Image of the Day: A Trade Card for Mowbray & Son, 1830

The Victoria & Albert Museum

As you’ve seen, I’ve gotten rather fond of Victorian Trade Cards.  This one is actually from the beginning of the reign of King William IV--1830.  Here, we see a trade card for Mowbray & Son, a “Wholesale & retail genuine tea dealers and grocers” which was based on Newport High Street. The card emphatically shows the non-European origins of its goods by featuring a depiction of a man in Chinese-style dress, seated on a crate amongst cargo and loaves of sugar.


Tea from China became available in England in the late Seventeenth Century, but the cost and rarity made it a fashionable drink available only to the wealthy.   Increased availability over the Eighteenth century saw that tea could be enjoyed by the population at large.


This particular trade card was printed to publicize the services of Mowbray & Son, as a source of this coveted tea.  Such cards were not only useful advertising tools, but also served as a popular form of entertainment.  They were collected and enjoyed for their ingenuity and artwork, serving also as reminders of particular tradesmen.  

History's Runway: A Pair of Leather Gloves with Silver Embroidery, 1660

The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Seventeenth Century, no one dared leave the house without gloves, both for reasons of fashion and hygiene.  A person’s gloves, like the rest of his or her ensemble, would have been a great indicator of their class and social status.  Here’s a pair of gloves which would have belonged to someone well-born and very wealthy.

Let’s remember that this was a period of history when personal hygiene revolved around the masking of body odors rather than something more practical like washing them away.  So, very often gloves were perfumed, allowing a convenient, literally handy way of masking unpleasant natural aromas.   During this period, gloves were scented with ingredients such as musk, ambergris, floral extracts and aromatic spices.

A glove like this one would certainly have been scented with spices.   A work of lushly deocarted leather, these gloves are adorned with silver and silver-gilt embroidery on the gauntlet, with an underlay of coral-coloured silk ribbon.


The silver and gold have been applied in a variety of forms: strip (broad, flat length of metal), purl (a tube of densely coiled metal), thread (a thin strip of metal wrapped around a linen or silk thread) and spangles (known today as sequins).  This is the perfect example of a Seventeenth Century glove when the gauntlets became smaller and the length of the fingers shortened to more natural proportions. 

Treat of the Week: Applesauce Spice Cake with Cardamom and Cinnamon

This weekend, after the holiday craze, we revisited a family favorite—my mother’s Applesauce Cake.  To simply refer to this masterpiece as an “applesauce cake” is to not do it justice. It’s so much more than that. A dense, incredibly moist Bundt cake, this delightful confection is spiced to perfection with cinnamon and cardamom. Cardamom offers a rich, sharp taste which brilliantly compliments the creaminess afforded the cake from the applesauce. If you’re a fan of spice cake, this is definitely for you.

With a wonderful crumb, the cake is tender and melts in your mouth. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious—perfectly sculpted from a delicate Kugelhopf Nordic Ware pan. My mother heartily recommends the Nordic Ware pans for their beautiful patterns and ease of use. Dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with rosettes of whipped cream, this is the ideal cake for a chilly afternoon tea.

Punch’s Cousin, Chapter 431

Ty Odo staggered away from the docks—no, not out of defeat, but out of sheer fatigue.  His head ached and sweat clung to his ebony brow, making him both alarmingly hot and sharply cold at once.  For a moment, just a moment, he thought perhaps that he had succumbed to the Yellow Jack like Mrs. Cage had.  His fatigue turned to alarm and he ran his grimy fingers across his thick gums.  No, they weren’t bloody.

Odo forced himself to laugh.  Where would he go?  He held in his mind—like a lozenge of comfort—the image of Marjani eyes and the awareness therein that he could still cause damage to all of them.  That lozenge grew as he walked and, soon, his weariness was transformed into something far greater than alarm—determination.

But, how?  Where would he go?  He couldn’t go back to Mr. Cage.  Surely the man would have him killed.  Or would he?  Mr.  Cage didn’t know what Odo had been about during the last few hours.  

Still, it was risky.  His master might blame Odo for failing to secure the child. 

Marie?  Could he go to Marie?  He had failed her, too.  She helped him get the child from Mama Routhe.  She told him that if he followed her directions, they would both get what they wanted.  He could be a hero to his master and she could…she could.  What would she get?  She very much wanted the Duke to go to her.  That was what she had asked.  She was so certain that he would come.  Odo hadn’t thought they’d send a valet in his place.  Marie probably hadn’t thought of it either.

Odo imagined Gerry running toward Marie Laveau’s house.  There was no way he could catch the man.  He was younger, healthier than Odo.  Odo licked his thick lips and then frowned.  Marie wasn’t going to be too thrilled when that wild-bearded Gerard knocked on her door asking for Mrs. Routhe.

Then, suddenly, Odo had an idea.  There was one person who could bring it all together for him.  She was just as desperate as he, and surely just as wicked.  Odo clapped his hands for his own amusement and walked in the direction where he thought he’d be most likely to find the Duke’s undoing. 

Did you miss Chapters 1-430?  If so, you can read them here.