This beautiful wine cooler was recently sold by Christie’s for $782,500. The price is justified by the cooler’s history: it was a gift offered by George Washington to Alexander Hamilton back in 1797. The centuries-old lot was originally expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000, but the three bidders who “fought” over it didn’t stop until the price reached the impressive sum that we mentioned above.
The Sheffield-plated silver vessel has a simple oval shape and it can hold and cool four bottles of wine at once. The only decorations that the cooler had when Alexander Hamilton received it were the two lion heads on both its sides. Later though, Hamilton’s descendants added a text on the bowl, which is actually the content of the letter that Washington offered to his confidant together with the wine cooler. The new owner of the precious object is Gary Hendershott, the first owner who is not a Hamilton descendant.
