Wine Cooler

Silver plate [replated]
Wilcox Silver Plate Co., Meriden, Conn.
Marks: Wilcox Silver Plate Co 2117/4"
H. 10.5”
Ca. 1875
Provenance: From Joseph H. Acklen; to his son Robert L. Acklen; to Belmont Mansion Association by purchase
2005.08.075 a-b, Robert Livingston Acklen Collection

This silver plated wine bucket is engraved "Acklen" in script. The overall decoration is engraving in Anglo Japanese style with the exception of the stag head handles. This wine cooler came into the collection with a matching soup tureen.

According to Robert, son of Joseph H. Acklen, Joseph won this in a pigeon shoot in New Orleans in 1876. He was competing in the Louisiana State Pigeon shooting contest using a pair of dueling pistols while his competitor used a double barrel shotgun. Joseph was an excellent marksman and his collegiate shooting record still stands today at Cumberland University.

The makers mark on this piece shows that it was made by the Wilcox Company . The company, originally named H. C. Wilcox Company, was organized in 1865 by Jedediah and Horace Wilcox, Charles Parker, Aaron Collins, Hezekiah Miller and others in Meriden, Connecticut. Two years later, the name was changed to Wilcox Silver Plate Co. and it operated under this name from 1867 until 1898. Wilcox Silver Plate Company was one of the original companies to become part of International Silver Company in 1898.

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Rainwater, Dorothy T., & Judy Redfield, Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers. Revised fourth edition Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1998, 371.