An interesting 'Kit Kat Club' glass decanter or carafe, earl...

Hammer

£1,650

An interesting 'Kit Kat Club' glass decanter or carafe, early 18th century, the onion-shaped body point engraved 'THE KIT KAT CLUB at the Fountain Tavern on the Strand', with a slightly domed base and rough pontil, 20.5cm high The Kit-Cat Club was a lively gathering of politically minded and literary figures in early 18th-century London. The members, staunch supporters of the Whig cause, would discuss politics, literature, and the day's issues. They first met in Shire Lane, just off Fleet Street, at the Trumpet Tavern, an inn run by Christopher Catt. As the group grew in prominence, they moved on to grander locations, including the Fountain Tavern on The Strand (where Simpson’s-in-the-Strand now stands) and later to a purpose-built meeting room at Barn Elms, the residence of their secretary, Jacob Tonson. Notable members include the Dukes of Somerset, Richmond, Grafton, Devonshire, and Marlborough; the Earls of Dorset, Sunderland, Manchester, Wharton, and Kingston; the Earl of Stanhope; Viscount Cobham; Lord Halifax; Sir Robert Walpole and Sir John Vanbrugh; writers Joseph Addison, William Congreve and John Locke, as well as artist Sir Godfrey Kneller.