Replies

1. 
   Eef | Dec 02, 2009 04:58am | #1

   hey bob,
   my distilled sugars in the celleret, huh? this may be leading a bit with the chin, but are not distilled sugars best stored in the booze cabinet, well out of the reach and access of would-be liquor hounds? that word, with my uneducated guess, sounds like a derivation of cellar, and therefore might imply a diminutive cellar as in small underground storage of some sort.
   eef

1. 
   bob_barnett | Dec 02, 2009 05:31am | #3

   It is your basic whiskey cabinet but it more like a box.  The bottles are stored vertically in partitions.  You access the bottles by opening the top.  It has it roots in sugar boxes. 

   bob

2. 
   DanCC | Dec 02, 2009 05:05am | #2

   Haven't heard of cellarets, but I have heard of sugar chests.  They go back to when sugar was expensive and had to be kept under lock and key.  Other spices were sometimes stored in the same chest and several regional forms developed in the 17th and 18th centuries.

   DanC
1. 
   bob_barnett | Dec 02, 2009 05:36am | #4

   Apparently they came along about the same time and are very similar.  I am not sure the one I saw wasn't converted from a Sugar Chest. 

   I found one on a web site today and it peaked my interest.  I have not been able to find out much information about them.  I figured with all the people who are log in here someone would have to know something about them. 

   bob

3. 
   Diz | Dec 02, 2009 06:09am | #5

   Plans by E Carlyle Lynch are available.  Also photos at http://www.leakesantiques.com 

1. 
   bob_barnett | Dec 02, 2009 03:32pm | #7

   Thanks I just ordered one.  That looks like a really cool place to visit.  I have added it to my bucket list. 

   bob

   Edited 12/2/2009 9:53 am ET by bob_barnett

4. 
   miserybob | Dec 02, 2009 03:29pm | #6

   There was an article by Chris Schwarz in popwood about an Arts and Crafts Cellarette - although it was more like a dropfront desk than what you are describing.  I can't find the article online anymore. 

   I'm actually about 7/8 of the way through building one.... oh, but that last 1/8th.... grrrrrr.

   Here's a pic from the pdf I downloaded long ago...

    

   
1. 
   woodworking6016 | Feb 14, 2019 06:26pm | #12

   Arts & Crafts Cellarette Plans

   Yesterday I was reviewing some old magazines when I came across a 1999 Arts & Crafts Cellarette plan by Chris Schwarz (July 1999 #109) in PW.  The plans in the article are fairly terse, but I was intrigued by the piece and am in search of photos.  This post is one of the few references that my search engine found.  I found where I can "download" the pdf plans for $2.00 but I don't want to go to the trouble if they are no more detailed than those in the original article.  What I'm primarily interested in, is the design of the interior of the cabinet.  The PW article has only one picture of the piece and similar to your photo, it is with the door closed.  I'd love to see a picture of the piece that you built.

5. 
   joinerswork | Dec 02, 2009 05:00pm | #8

   bob,

   The cellaret is apparently a Southern furniture form, or at least more popular in the South.  As someone has already mentioned Carlyle Lynch has a drawing of one.  As well, there is one in the book, Construction of American Furniture Treasures, by Lester Margon, Dover Publications #0-486-23056-2.  There are  several illustrated in Hurst and Prown, Southern Furniture 1680-1830, from Colonial Wmsburg.  Paul Burroughs in his Southern Antiques, has a whole chapter devoted to cellarets, also called "bottle cases".  There are several shown in Williams and Harsh's The Art and Mystery of Tennesee Furniture.

    While sugar chests are usually diminutive versions of the typical blanket chest, cellarets are more often elevated on legs, and frequently incorporate a slide, for mixing drinks, in their design.  Some elaborate examples have areas for glasses and mixing tools (mullers, whisks, etc) as well as bottles, in their interiors  In addition, they are likely to be embellished with carving or inlaid decoration, as would befit their place in the parlor, dining or drawing room rather than in the kitchen or pantry where one would expect to find the utilitarian sugar chest.

   Ray

1. 
   bob_barnett | Dec 02, 2009 05:59pm | #9

   Thanks Ray.  That was some great information.  I appreciate you taking the time to look up the references for me.  I found the 1st two books but I will have to do some more looking for the last two.  I am also doing some searches with different names and spellings. 

   bob

1. 
   joinerswork | Dec 03, 2009 01:00am | #11

   bob,

   You're welcome.  The references were no problem to look up, as they are on my bookshelf; just a matter of pulling them down .

   Ray

6. 
   PADDYDAHAT | Dec 03, 2009 01:00am | #10

   Bob, the recent newsletter from the Chris Schwarz gang has a blurb on Kentucky style stuff and a site,  http://www.koar.org

   When it comes up select the "search KOAR" option and then fill in the search box with "sugar chests" . I found over 60 of various styles from plain six board boxes to some with more fru-fru than a decorated Christmas tree. All the best, Paddy