Marlborough Ice Pails
- Gallery: Room 46
- Made in: England
- Date: 1700 (circa)
- Object type: ice-pail
- Materials: gold
- Museum number: 1981,1201.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is one of the Marlborough Ice Pails, a beautifully crafted gold object made in England around the year 1700. These pails are part of a pair and boast a rich, detailed design.
The pail features two lion masks and hinged handles, along with reeded molding that divides the body into upper and lower sections. The upper part is simple except for a molded rim and an incised line. The lower half is more elaborate, with flat spiral bands chased and fluted for added texture. The base is similarly decorated with narrower, opposite-facing spirals.
The pails were originally part of the Marlborough family collection before being bequeathed in 1744 and later sold. They are noted in several historical sources, suggesting they were once displayed in important exhibitions. Their design reflects the intricate craftsmanship favored in early eighteenth-century goldwork.
See it in person
Marlborough Ice Pails is on display in Room 46 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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