A rare silver 18th century wine cistern commissioned by Thomas Wentworth (1672 – 1739), who built Stainborough Castle, and who was the ambassador to the King of Prussia at Berlin, is under threat of leaving the United Kingdom.
A rare silver 18th century wine cistern commissioned by Thomas Wentworth (1672 – 1739), who built Stainborough Castle, and who was the ambassador to the King of Prussia at Berlin, is under threat of leaving the United Kingdom.
The cistern is the most expensive piece of English silver ever sold at auction and Wentworth Castle Gardens want to see it returned to its rightful home in Yorkshire.
Measuring 129cm wide and weighing in at over 70kg the wine cistern bears the makers mark of the famous Goldsmith Phillip Rollos, a 17th century immigrant whose work and subsequently his son John Rollos’ work, was highly sought after at the time.
The cistern is engraved with the Royal arms and cipher of Queen Anne, and a cistern of this size would have served to emphasise the status of the then monarch.
However the cistern is due to leave the country unless purchased at the recommended price of £,2558,668.75 (Inc. Vat) and only remains in this country thanks to a temporary export bar placed on the national treasure by export minister Ed Vaizey.
www.wentworthcastle.org
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