Silver Wine Wagon, c. 1850

Pass the wine, please?

Wine wagons, jolly boats, decanter trolleys, and a wide assortment of whimsical wine-serving accoutrements invaded the tables of British society in the late 18th century. In English silver, and in Old Sheffield Plate, these locomotive servers are fairly common. However, this may be the only example in American silver.

It was made by Francis Cooper, a New York City silversmith best known for his ecclesiastical plate (c.f. "Communion Plate of the Most Approved and Various Patterns, in True Ecclesiastical Stile": Francis W. Cooper, Silversmith for the New York Ecclesiological Society, 1851-1855, Jennifer M. Merritt, Winterthur thesis, 1997, available here).

And yes, it works!

Engraved with motto and crest of the Mure family and initial "M".

Provenance:
Bonhams, New York, 22 May 2012, lot 1001
Spencer Marks