Purchase of Lord Raby's Silver Wine Cistern

The rare 18th century silver wine cooler, which provides unique insight into the style and ceremonial role of British ambassadors abroad, has joined the impressive silverware collection at Leeds’ Temple Newsam House, after it was saved from export thanks to a successful fundraising campaign by Leeds Museums and Galleries. A grant of £1.83million was secured from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), along with £140,000 from the Art Fund and further support from many other heritage funders and charities including the Leeds Art Collections Fund. The cooler, which is the largest of three surviving ambassadorial coolers in the UK, was commissioned by Thomas Wentworth, 3rd Baron Raby and later Earl of Stafford, when he became the ambassador to Berlin in 1706.