Design Brass Wine Bottle Rack with Sinusoidal Wire Cradles — French Work, Circa 1970
A wine bottle rack in polished brass, with six vertical tubular columns linked by five rows of sinusoidal wire cradles that hold bottles horizontally. French work, circa 1970. Dimensions: 54 × 16.5 × 40.5 cm.
PRODUCT DETAILS
| Dimensions en CM | 54 x 16.5 x 40.5 cm |
|---|---|
| Dimensions en INCH | 21.26 x 6.50 x 15.94 inch |
| Période | 1970–1980 |
| Style | Mid-Century Modern |
| Matériaux | Brass |
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This wine bottle rack demonstrates how French designers of the 1970s could bring genuine formal invention to a purely functional object. The structure consists of six polished brass tubes standing vertically as columns, between which five rows of continuous sinusoidal wire — each wave forming a cradle for one bottle — run horizontally to create the storage compartments. The result is an object that is simultaneously a utilitarian piece of cellar furniture and a small work of decorative engineering: the regularity of the sinusoidal pattern giving it a rhythm that is as satisfying to look at as it is logical in function.
Brass wine racks of this type were produced by French metalworking workshops throughout the 1960s and 1970s, a period when the material's warm golden tone and structural versatility made it one of the favoured media for high-end domestic furnishings. The sinusoidal wire approach — as opposed to the more common crossed-rod or interlocking-ring constructions — was a specifically French preference that combined economy of material with elegance of line, producing a rack that feels light and airy rather than heavy and industrial.
At 54 centimetres wide and 40.5 centimetres tall, this rack provides storage for approximately ten bottles in horizontal repose — the correct position for maintaining cork integrity and, for aged wines, allowing sediment to settle. It stands freely on a sideboard, kitchen counter, or cellar shelf, and is equally effective as a standalone display object when charged with bottles whose labels and capsules add a further layer of colour and interest to the composition.
A well-preserved example of French decorative metalwork from the early 1970s, this bottle rack combines functional rigour with the kind of considered formal elegance that distinguishes designed objects from merely manufactured ones.
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