Bottle roller

Status

On view

Label Text

Anticipating large presidential entertainments, George Washington ordered twelve wine coolers from England in October 1789. When the coolers proved too unwieldy to pass around the table, he proposed the creation of decanter stands "open at the sides, but with a raised Rim as Castors have - and an upright by way of handle in the middle." Philadelphia silversmith Joseph Cooke was commissioned to create a pair of these silver bottle rollers. Upon his retirement from the presidency, Washington brought the rollers to Mount Vernon, where they continued to facilitate the orderly flow of wine at dinner.

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Date1790

Maker Joseph Cooke (English, active 1784 - 1797)

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueSilver, brass

DimensionsOverall: 14 in. x 9 1/2 in. x 9 5/8 in. (35.56 cm x 24.13 cm x 24.46 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mary Lee Bowman and Robert E. Lee IV, 2007

Object numberW-4578

DescriptionSilver bottle stand; four cylindrical baskets constructed from drawn silver wire; sides are composed of loops of wire that unite the wire rim of the top and base; base of each basket is composed of seven loops of wire arranged like petals and joined to the circular top of the castor case at the center; the baskets are grouped together to form a square, and joined at their bases by a central plate of silver; a silver rod with a knop at the top is screwed into the center of the central plate; each of four undulating lengths of silver wire runs from one side of the central rod and tapers to a slipper foot to join the sides of two baskets; a length of wire formed in the shape of a heart is soldered to the top of the central rod to form a handle; two short lengths of silver wire are shaped in an arc and soldered in place to connect the outer edge of each pair of baskets; the maker's mark "IC" is stamped four times around the reverse of the base plate; each cylindrical silver caster case encloses a small brass wheel.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 144-145.

Andy McConnell, The Decanter: An Illustrated History of Glass from 1650 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 2004), 194, 197.

Martha Gandy Fales, "The Silver," Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 520.

Kathryn Buhler, Mount Vernon Silver (Mount Vernon, Virginia: The Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, 1957), 59-60, 73.

Benson J. Lossing, The Home of Washington (Hartford, Connecticut: A. S. Hale & Company, 1870), 264-265.

Benson J. Lossing, Mount Vernon and its Associations: Historical, Biographical, Pictorial (New York: W.A. Townsend & Co., 1859), 249 - 251.

MarkingsMaker's mark stamped four times on the reverse of the central base of the stand, near each point: "IC".

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