"Mahogany Wine Cooler, England, 19th Century"

Sumptuous mahogany wine cooler. England, circa 1870.
Adorned with two sculpted tritons on the front. The basin is inlaid with scrolling foliage on each side and protected by a tin cover.
The base conceals a pair of bronze casters allowing for easy movement.

The upper part of his body, down to his kidneys, is that of a swimming man, the lower part that of a long-tailed fish.
The sea god Triton was born from the union of the Nereid Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, with the sea god Poseidon. He lived in a golden palace at the bottom of the sea with his parents; Homer places this palace at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, while the story of the Argonauts places it on the coast of Libya.

Triton appears in Roman myths and epics as the son of Neptune and Salacia.