A CLASSICAL CARVED AND ORMOLU-MOUNTED ROSEWOOD CELLARET

A form that gained popularity in the early nineteenth century when dining rooms became increasingly prevalent, the cellaret was used to store bottles brought up from the cellar during meals. They were often made en suite with sideboards and stored under the central portion of the sideboard. The inside of the subject cellaret is divided into four caddies to hold upright bottles and also includes concave channels around the perimeter to hold bottles. An extremely similar cellaret with similarly shaped case and four front facing lion's paw feet is said to have been made by Phyfe for his own home. This piece descended in his family and is illustrated in Peter M. Kenny and Michael K, Brown, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), pp. 195-197, pl. 24. Another similar example en suite with a sideboard and also attributed to Phyfe was sold Christie's, New York, 3 October 2007, lot 121. A third related example is in the collection of Bayou Bend (B.67.31).