No fridge? Doesn't Matter! - (Page 4 of 5)

The two wine coolers and the Sevres Ice-cream cooler were useful in an age before the invention of refrigerators, but when people still expected certain food and drink to be served cold. The Farrington of Newcastle Wine Cooler was lined with lead and had a number of smaller sections to hold the ice which would have kept the wine cold.

The Wine Cooler from Waddesdon Manor is similar in function but is much more lavish. Made for King George III of England in 1776 as part of a silver dinner service for 72 people, it was the height of elegance and opulence as befits an object made for a king.

Likewise, the Sevres Ice-cream cooler was made for Empress Catherine the Great of Russia in the 18th century and was one of nearly 800 pieces of porcelain for a dinner and dessert service. Imagine how the table would have looked adorned with these blue and gold objects. The ice-cream cooler worked by placing ice in-between the cooler and a lining in order to keep the contents cool. Even so, because ice-cream would have been eaten in a more liquid form than we are used to today, while beautiful, this object was not as efficient as our modern-day fridges.