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The Big Chill
In 1773 the architect Robert Adam noted
that Englishmen were "accustomed by habit,
or induced by the nature of our climate to
indulge more largely in the enjoyment of
the bottle" than the French.
In from the cold
An 18th-century wine-cooler
This preoccupation accounts for the
care and elaboration of design found on
18th- and 19th-century drinking
accessories. Among the most noticeable are
the wine-cooler and the cellaret -
receptacles to store or cool wine.
Keeping Chablis chilled is not the
problem it used to be. But our
18th-century forebears were required to
develop ingenious contraptions in which to
keep their drink safe, within reach and,
at times, cool.
Early Georgian sideboards were in the
form of side tables, without cupboards,
and cellarets or wine-coolers were placed
underneath. Typically, they would be oval
or octagonal, made from mahogany and bound
with brass bands. The interiors would be
lined in lead with partitioning for
bottles and have a lock for safekeeping.
They were often on stands fitted with
castors. Wine-coolers were fitted with
small taps in the bottom to drain away
iced water.
Many surviving examples have either had
their hinged lids removed or their
lead-lined interiors gutted. A good
18th-century mahogany and brass-bound
cellaret or wine-cooler retaining its
original interior would cost between
£4,000 and £6,000.
The same item adapted to a jardiniere
would be in the region of £1,500.
More elaborate examples with carving or
inlaid decoration can cost £20,000
and upwards. Watch out for cunningly
replaced brass bands and stands that are
not the same date as the body.
By the early 19th century, larger
wine-coolers and cellarets were more in
favour than the smaller 18th-century
examples. These larger items were often
made in the form of a sarcophagus and
raised on a plinth rather than narrow
legs.
Although not as collectable, many
19th-century examples are made from
superb-quality mahogany and could contain
enough wine to keep the best dinner party
going until the small hours. You should be
able to pick up a good-quality
19th-century example for no more than
£2,000.
I was once shown a vast magnificently
carved cellaret from about 1840. It was at
the foot of a kingsize bed and, as I was
about to lift the hinged lid to see if the
original lead-lined partitioning had
survived, a whirring noise began and the
lid began to rise.
Two minutes later, the whirring stopped
and there stood an enormous, flat-screen
television with the cellaret lid suspended
above it. The cellaret's interior had been
gutted and replaced with electrically
operated chains and shafts. In doing so, a
£6,000 cellaret had been rendered
virtually worthless.
Rather than customise a cellaret or
wine-cooler, why not use it as originally
intended. In 1806 a poet wrote of a woman
who:
With venturesome hands
At the cellaret stands,
Where she picks out so handy
Rum, Hollands and Brandy.
So load it with bottles and position
under a sideboard in the dining-room - it
will look fantastic.
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