The Grand Service
George IV's spectacular silver-gilt dining service and buffet
Ice pail (part of The Grand Service)
hallmarks 1812-17RCIN 51467
This ice pail is a reduction of the Warwick Vase, a colossal marble vase dating from the 2nd century AD, which in 1770 was found in fragments at Hadrian's Villa near Rome. Following its discovery, the vase was acquired by the Earl of Warwick and set up in the grounds of Warwick Castle. It is now in the Burrell Collection in Scotland. In the eighteenth century the vase was engraved by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78) and prints of it inspired many copies in silver and silver gilt, especially for use as ice pails. This example, part of a set of four, was purchased by George IV in 1812. The dishes in the pails are designed to be used for fruit ice. Another reproduction of the Warwick Vase is used in competitive tennis today: the trophy for the Australian Open, the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, is modelled on it.