Late George IV Period Wine Cooler Cellarette in Pollard Oak of Exceptional Colour & Patina

An outstanding early 19th Century English George IV period (c.1825) wine cooler or cellarette in pollard oak of exceptional colour and patina. This fine piece is of George IV period and is veneered throughout in pollard oak of the most exceptional colour with a fine surface and patina, now finely wax polished in the traditional manner. The piece is of substantial size and has great presence within a room. Designed in the Greek revival classical manner, the piece takes its basic form from classical sarcophagi with a tapering, flattened pyramidal top. The fact that the piece has a lid and is not open technically makes it a cellarette a closed wine cooler, designed to keep bottles cool with ice packed around them in the grand dining rooms of the great regency period houses. The piece is quite unusual in that it has stepped square feet above an integral platform base, the base incorporating concealed castors for ease of movement which is a very useful feature when full of wine! The flattened centre of the lid also makes this piece ideal for displaying a bronze or other decorative object when not in use and collectors today often use cellarets of this sort as storage trunks-the advantage being that they are just as sturdy as a trunk but far more attractive to look at in a more formal setting. The sides on this piece are finely panelled which is a great sign of quality, as is the use of half round beaded mouldings throughout. These mouldings are particularly associated with the firm of Gillows of London and Lancaster and their Edinburgh competitors William Trotter who both made extensive use of this style of moulding in the period concerned. Certainly in terms of quality of manufacture this piece is good enough to have been produced by either of the aforementioned companies but it is difficult to attribute it with any degree of certainty to one particular firm or another. The use of native British timbers rather than imported woods became fashionable during the regency period with makers and designers such as George Bullock in particular championing the use of such timbers. Pollard oak was particularly popular amongst the wealthiest of connoisseurs, the choice of British woods tying in with national pride during the long war with Napoleon and his allies throughout Europe. A wonderful object, almost art like for the collector…. The best chosen pollard oak veneers, having been waxed for almost 200 hundred years have obtained an enthralling colour and patination. This is an outstanding piece of furniture that will appeal to the sophisticated collector and decorator.