Cellarette

A cellarette or cellaret is a small furniture cabinet, available in various sizes, shapes, and designs which is used to store bottles of alcoholic beverages such as wine or whiskey.

To the casual observer, the three dimensional trompe-l'œil artwork on these cellarettes made them appear to be an ordinary table, bookcase, or other piece of furniture.

[1] Cellarettes in England and America were custom designed wooden chests to carry, transport and store small numbers of bottled alcoholic beverages.

Eventually, as Neoclassicism gave way to the more ostentatious Empire style, cellarettes became heavier and more ornate, emphasizing Roman and Grecian motifs.

In Hepplewhite's 1794 The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide he demonstrates cellarettes as being octagonal and elliptical shaped with internal compartments for bottles of wine and liquor.

[4] Renowned eighteenth century Charleston, South Carolina, furniture craftsman Thomas Elfe made several "Mahogany Cases for bottles with brass handles" for £12.

[4] The word bouteillier/butler was later standardized as a reference to the staff person exercising custodial responsibility over the bottles contained in a cellarette or wine cellar.