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Collectibles: A rare cast iron and brass French wine corker 100cm high by 50cm wide Original well preserved examples of these highly decorative and one time abundant wine corkers are becoming scarce. This one is fully functioning and retain its original finish. This particular model, La Meilleure (The Best) was manufactured in Paris in the late 19th/early 20th century. Purchased by the wine cellar supplier and Lemonade makers Maison Gast based in Caen northern France and probably then supplied to a vineyard in the local Loire valley area. The history of using corks for wine bottles dates back to the 1600 (started by Dom Perignon). It wasn’t until the last quarter of the 19th century that the wine bottling industry really expanded. Production boomed between 1890 and 1917, the industrial work force more than doubled and by 1930 it had increased fivefold to a total of 10,000 workers. This particular wine corker would have been in use at a vineyard during that period. Many aspect of French wine making have remained unchanged for centuries, however the advent of mechanical bottling put an end to the use of manual wine corkers and these bespoke corkers were sadly discarded, rendering them now a very scarce piece of French wine making history. Mechanically advanced yet endearingly rustic, this corker perfectly embodies the time honoured traditions of French wine making.

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3286 item(s)/page