Antique Wine Box Legs
These antique wine box legs support the cellarettes and wine coolers that kept bottles cool in formal dining rooms.
Antique Wine Box Legs
When searching for antique wine box legs, you are examining the supports beneath Georgian, Regency, and Edwardian cellarettes and wine coolers. These pieces range from simple bracket feet and tapering legs to tripod bases and freestanding frames.
The pieces you encounter most often on this page belong to the Georgian and Regency periods, rendered in mahogany or padouk. Many take the form of octagonal or sarcophagus-shaped boxes raised on slender stands or integrated legs.
Materials and construction
Cabinetmakers utilised dense timbers such as mahogany, padouk, and flame mahogany to build these receptacles, frequently adding boxwood stringing or ormolu mounts for contrast. The legs and stands were joined using traditional cabinetmaking methods to bear the heavy weight of bottled wine.
Surfaces often show meticulous attention to grain orientation, particularly where boxwood inlay adorns the tops and supporting legs of tripod tables and stands.
Antique Wine Box Legs Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical asking prices for wine box legs among the pieces listed under this phrase on Sellingantiques today, from the lower quarter to the upper quarter. They describe what is for sale here now, not the wider market.
Some dining rooms concealed these heavy containers on wheels so servants could roll the entire wine cellar across the floor.
Distinguishing quality
Quality rests in the choice of timber and the crispness of any inlaid decoration or ormolu mounts. Finer examples display carefully selected mahogany grain and integrated structural legs that complement the proportions of the cellarette above.
Simpler models rely on straightforward bracket feet or plain stands, whereas superior items feature finely turned legs, brass casters, or intricate boxwood stringing executed by skilled hands.
Gillows of Lancaster and London
The Antique Wine Box Legs Glossary
- Cellarette
- A lockable container used to hold bottles of wine beneath a sideboard or on its own stand. They appeared frequently in dining rooms during the Georgian and Regency periods.
- Wine Cooler
- A vessel designed to hold bottles and ice during formal meals. Many rested on dedicated legs or stands to keep them at a convenient height.
- Ormolu
- Gilded bronze used for decorative mounts on furniture. It adds a bright metallic contrast to dark woods like mahogany.
- Boxwood Inlay
- Contrasting light wood inserted into recesses in a darker timber surface. It creates geometric borders and decorative patterns on legs and tabletops.
- Padouk
- A heavy tropical hardwood with a reddish hue used in fine cabinetmaking. Anglo-Indian examples frequently employ this material.
Antique Wine Box Legs: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cellarette?
A cellarette is a lockable wooden box designed to store wine bottles securely in the dining room.
They were typically placed beneath the sideboard or raised on their own legs for easy access during meals.
How do I date a wine box?
Dating depends on the timber, the style of the legs, and the presence of decorative inlays like boxwood.
Georgian and Regency pieces tend to use solid mahogany with distinct architectural proportions and traditional joinery.
Were these boxes meant to hold ice?
Many wine coolers and cellarettes featured lead-lined interiors designed to hold ice and water.
This kept bottles chilled throughout long formal dinners before the invention of modern refrigeration.