Georgian Wine Bottle
These items of georgian wine bottle equipment span heavy mahogany cellarettes, silver coasters and glass decanters designed to hold and serve wine.
Georgian Wine Bottle
A georgian wine bottle category encompasses a diverse range of vessels and containers used for serving and storing wine during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Collectors will find various forms on this page, including wooden cellarettes, silver coasters, glass decanters, and metal wine coolers.
The objects span multiple sub-types designed for the dining table and sideboard. Wooden boxes such as mahogany or satinwood cellarettes sit alongside Sheffield plated bottle stands and sterling silver labels.
Most pieces date from the Georgian, Regency, and early Victorian periods, showing craftsmanship in wood, glass, and metal. The selection ranges from table coasters to large fitted furniture pieces for the dining room.
What Varies in Quality
Quality in these items depends upon the crispness of the casting in silver or brass, the depth of cut glass decoration, and the grain pattern or timber selection in wooden pieces. Finer examples show superior weight, balanced proportions, and careful hand-finishing.
Provenance and maker attribution elevate certain works, particularly when associated with recorded silversmiths or workshops. The preservation of original components, such as wooden bases in metal coasters or original stoppers in decanters, also influences overall standing.
One piece recorded on the site is an eighteenth-century door stop shaped entirely like a wine bottle.
Elizabeth Morley·James Giles·Digby Scott Benjamin Smith·John Reily·Thomas Wallis II·Gillows·Barnards·Nathaniel Smith And Co·William Allen
The Georgian Wine Bottle Glossary
- Cellarette
- A fitted cabinet, box, or stand used to hold wine bottles near the dining table. They are frequently made of mahogany or pollard oak and may feature brass binding.
- Wine coaster
- A small tray or stand with a raised edge used to hold a wine bottle on the table and protect the surface from spills. Bases are often turned wood lined with fabric.
- Old Sheffield plate
- A composite material made by fusing a thin sheet of silver to a thicker copper base. It was widely utilised for tableware before the invention of electroplating.
Georgian Wine Bottle: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a georgian wine bottle cellarette?
A cellarette is a wooden container or small piece of furniture designed to hold multiple wine bottles safely near the dining table.
These pieces were constructed from timbers like mahogany and satinwood, often featuring lead linings or brass bands.
How were decanter labels used?
Decanter labels hung around the necks of glass decanters by small chains to identify specific wines like port, sherry, or madeira.
Silversmiths shaped them from sterling silver or Old Sheffield plate, engraving the names by hand.
What materials make up wine coasters?
Wine coasters combined metals like silver, brass, or plated copper with turned wooden bases often inset with green baize.
This construction allowed the stands to slide smoothly across dining tables without scratching the polished wood.