The vase-shaped body on a waisted stem and square plinth, with acanthus-capped twin loop handles and band of swagged drapery, the cover with acanthus bud finial, the spigot with wooden tap, the front engraved with a coat-of-arms, marked on stem, underside of urn and cover
17³⁄₄ in. (45 cm.) high
97 oz. 17 dwt. (3,045.6 gr.) gross
The arms are those of Sinclair, with another in pretence, probably Maitland, for John Sinclair of Ulbster P.C., M.P., F.R.S., F.R.S.E., F.S.A., (1754-1835), later created a baronet in 1786, and his first wife, Sarah Maitland, the only child and heir of Alexander Maitland of Stoke Newington. An agricultural improver, politician, and codifier of ‘useful knowledge’, he was born at Thurso Castle, Caithness, in 1754, the third but only surviving son of George Sinclair (d.1770) of Ulbster and his wife, Lady Janet Sutherland (1720–1795), sister of the 17th Earl of Sutherland. The vase was almost certainly commissioned for his Edinburgh town house, 133 George Street.

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