Fit for a King: The Elegant Wine Trolley

By Tom McGehee
Museum Home Director

In 1820 King George IV asked his silversmiths in Birmingham, England to create a device to make the service of wine at his dinners more efficient. The solution was the Wine Trolley, a device allowing two bottles of wine to be passed straight down the table top rather than waiting on a servant with a single bottle in hand.

The Wine Trolley was created using two coasters. The original purpose of these was to hold a single bottle of wine or port and prevent the contents from spilling on the tablecloth. They were also dubbed “sliders” as their bases were covered with felt making them easy to slide down a polished wooden surface. George Washington asked the Marquis de Lafayette to obtain “eight sliders” for him in France.

In the Bellingrath Collection is a Wine Trolley on four wheels with a handle to pull it down the table. Its design incorporates a favorite device for wine-related objects: grapes and grape leaves. It bears the makers mark for Elkington and Company of Birmingham and has the date mark for 1863.

The Wine Trolley joins a number of silver wine related objects on display on the first floor of the Bellingrath Home which includes decanter stands, wine coolers and a pair of coasters.