I have a rather unusual identification request regarding a vintage wine case bearing the mark of a vineyard. It’s a strange story but I could think of no other way to obtain help other than enlist the help of a forum like this to do so
A little background first. I have in my collection a vintage military foot locker/tool chest possibly circa 1880 -1920. This chest was repaired in the field probably in the trenches during the first world war in France. The old repair to an inner drawer was made with what I believe was a wine crate from a vineyard in the area of the battle. The chest belonged to a trooper of a horse cavalry squadron. The regiment was called the Northumberland Hussars Light Yeomanry. I believe the regiment was heavily in battle very early in the first world war with documented presence in the Ypres area of conflict. Its was also active in many areas of France in Battlefields that where vineyards prior to this.
The regiment was also active in France during the second WW. There is a possibility the chest could have been repaired in this time frame.
I know it’s a strange request but with its link to the wine chest, and vineyard mark ,I figured perhaps some of the forum members with historical interest would perhaps provide me a little help identifying the Vineyard mark if at all possible. If I could find the vineyard I may be able to piece together the provenance and insight to the life and travels of my little chest. My apologies if this topic is perhaps a little unusual for this forum but the vineyard connection may interest some of you. Its not massively important task but tracing my little chests travels interests me historically. The chest is not particularly valuable. Just interesting.
I have attempted to enclose a photographic link. I am rather inexperienced with forum use.
If I have not done it correctly let me know and I shall have another go or I could e mail it direct to a member with the knowledge of forum posting. Just hope I haven’t posted a picture of my dog by mistake lol.
Are you certain this mark came from a wine case? I’m not expert in boxes from this era, but in general the ones I’ve seen were branded, not painted. What you show is a painted mark. It also very cleanly lines up across the planks, which would be difficult to do if the planks were ripped from a different box and reassembled in the chest. I would consider that this labeling and brand mark were added to the chest after the repair. Also of note, since wine boxes are typically stacked, the face that you open (which would also fit the dimensions of your repair if I have the scale right) would typically not be branded or labeled unless it was a very well-financed vineyard. The end wood would carry the labeling to allow for identification without unstacking the box.
Fun historical scavenger hunt you are on here. Good luck!
fred
I enjoyed reading the background of this, nice post.
I’m far from an expert but also question whether this is a vineyard mark. “Regent Chest” seems to be a chest-makers mark. Or am I focusing on the wrong mark?
Thanks for the information guys. I would have loved someone to have said…recognise the mark,know the area well.
But it looks as if my assumption was incorrect. Great to have the insider knowledge regarding the use of branding.
However this now allows me to broaden my search for other original use of the repair timber. I still have the gut feeling the mark is French, but who knows.
Also I have enjoyed reading your forum it has been entertaining seeing the postings about wine.And I am encouraged to buy a bottle of wine from the location of the battlefields and raise a toast this weekend to the brave souls who walked the soil of those vineyards in times of terrible war.
Perhaps someone can recomend a particular bottle.
If I may indulge in some idle speculation based on 20 minutes or so of consideration and research…
The words on the logo appear to say “Regent Chest” as a previous poster noted. I also agree with the comments about branding vs. painted, and the pictures make it appear that the bottom of the drawer is a single piece of wood, albeit cracked in a couple of places.
It appears to me that given the British provenance of the item and the clear Englishness of the term “Regent Chest” that the logo was more likely the mark of a British furniture manufacturer than it would be the mark of a French vineyard. I tried a search on “Regent Chest” but it seems more likely to be a generic term than the name of a manufacturer and I was unable to find a furniture maker from that period named “Regent”. But also note there is a large “T” behind the “Regent Chest” ribbons, so I went down a quick rabbit hole of searching for an early 20th century builder of regent chests starting with a “T”. No luck, but it did lead me to a website called “The Arts and Crafts Home” with the URL The Arts & Crafts Home . You might contact the listed freelance furniture researcher with the pictures to see if he can help.
Based on the additional “Open this end” and “129” markings I have a hypothesis: At some time during one of the wars a regent chest made by a company whose name started with a “T” was torn apart and used for crating (wood shortages?), hence the military style crate markings. Then the crate was torn apart and re-purposed once again for the repair of the military chest.
Best of luck to you in your investigations, and I for one would be interested to hear if you get some good answers.
