French Pewter 1920 s Wine Cooler

This unique apparatus has a lot to do with the history and shaping of French history and culture: the wine bottle corker. Made of iron around 1890, ...

This rare, painted tole and brass 19th century French wine dispenser was used by wineries to measure their wines into bottles in preparation for sale. The cylindrical vessel is balanced on three slim legs, portable by a pair of sturdy handles mounted to the sides. The tole (painted) finish has developed a wonderful oxidized patina of red-maroon tone recalling a young Pinot Noir that suits the theme just fine. An overflow and a spout down one side would allow the excess wine to be emptied into a vessel below to insure little waste. Every winery would have had one of these barrels and customers would bring a vessel and place it under the spout to fill with the desired amount of wine. The vintner would charge for the wine by using a measuring stick to determine how much was in the barrel before and after dispensing as not every vessel was of equal size. This wine vat...