Novelty Cannon Wine Bottle Holder in Wood, Brass and Chrome — H. Hauger, Paris, Circa 1930

This irresistible novelty bottle holder takes the form of a miniature field cannon — the wine bottle resting along the barrel axis at a jaunty incline, the neck of the bottle precisely where the muzzle of the weapon would be. The wheeled carriage is constructed in dark-stained wood, its two large open-spoke wheels in brass providing the period accuracy that makes the illusion so convincing. Chrome fittings at the breech and along the barrel support complete the composition, the contrast of warm wood, golden brass, and brilliant chrome playing out in miniature the same material vocabulary that distinguished the great Parisian decorative arts of the 1930s.

The piece is stamped H. Hauger, Paris — a mark that places it among the better class of French novelty and decorative metalwork of the inter-war period. Parisian makers of this type produced in limited numbers for the luxury gift and home furnishings trade, supplying the grands magasins and the specialist maisons de cadeaux that lined the rue de Rivoli and the Boulevard Haussmann. A marked piece of this quality is appreciably rarer than the anonymous equivalents that circulated through the trade.

The cannon bottle holder belongs to a long tradition of the table novelty — the conversion of a familiar object into a surprising and amusing vessel or support. The cannon was a particularly popular subject for this treatment in France, given the country's military heritage and the widespread fascination with Napoleonic memorabilia that persisted well into the twentieth century. As a conversation piece at a dinner table or sideboard, it remains irresistible: the sight of a full bottle of Bordeaux resting in the barrel of a miniature cannon inevitably provokes a smile and an inquiry.

The piece is in excellent condition for its age: the wood retains its depth of tone; the brass wheels display a warm, even patina; the chrome fittings are bright and free from pitting. A rare, marked, and very charming example of the Parisian decorative arts at play.