Images(5)

Bottle Case

Date1830-1860

OriginAmerica, Southeast

MediumBlack walnut, yellow pine, and tulip poplar

DimensionsOverall: 30 1/2 × 24 7/8 × 21in. (77.5 × 63.2 × 53.3cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, TIF Foundation in memory of Michelle A. Iverson

Object number2021-211

DescriptionAppearance: Rectangular bottle case with raised-panel front, sides, and back; applied molding nailed around front and sides of skirt; tapered legs, square in cross section; lid with applied molding under front edge; battens (replaced) under edges of sides with round mortises at back extended behind case for rounded tenons of applied cleats nailed to back of case that extend to the sides and form the hinges for the lid; interior divided by short, yellow pine dividers (only one remains; rest replaced by CWF 2022) in dados in the lower rails of the case sides, front, and back into 3 rows with 4 sections each for bottles on the proper left and two larger sections on the proper right; keyhole in center of front, top rail (missing lock and escutcheon).

Construction: Upper and lower rails of front, sides, and back tenoned and pegged into tops of legs with fielded panels in dados in the rails and legs; back panel and face of legs are unfinished; interior corners of legs within case notched out other entire height of interior; mitered moldings nailed to lower edge of case on front and sides with cut nails; side edges of the top are slightly rounded; molding and battens nailed to underside front and side edges of top; battens extend beyond the back with round mortises at rear; short horizontal cleats with rounded extensions that extend past the sides are nailed to top, back of case at sides; rounded tenon of cleats extend into the round mortise of side battens creating hinges for top; interior dividers (one remains) in dados in lower rails of case front, back and sides; top boards are butt joined and fastened with two pegged biscuits or loose tenons between the two boards; bottom boards are chamfered on the outside edge of the underside and nailed to the underside of the rails.
Label TextPractical and often elegant forms for the storage of liquor, bottle cases or cellarets were popular in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although this example was found in Bath County, Virginia, other examples of mid-19th century joiner-made furniture with paneled sides are known from various regions of the southern Backcountry, including in Georgia and Alabama. A related bottle case was made about 1850 by Peter Lee, a formerly enslaved joiner in Marengo or Hale County, Alabama. Lee was enslaved by Capt. Henry Augustine Tayloe and may have been sent from a Tayloe family plantation in eastern Virginia to Alabama with other enslaved workers prior to gaining his freedom in the mid to late 1840s.

Bottles cases tyically have fixed, vertical dividers creating a grid into which the glass bottles would have been placed. Some, including this one, also have a few larger divisions for the storage of expensive foodstuffs such as sugar. Dark staining on the lower portion of the legs of this case indicate that the feet were likely placed in cups of liquid or cups with a moat of liquid (possibly turpentine) in order to deter insects from crawling up the legs and infesting the liquor and foodstuff in the case.
ProvenancePurchased by vendor from estate of Mrs. Karin R. Ellis (widow of Mr. T. Kenneth Ellis) from Stepping Stones, Hot Springs, Virginia in 2021.