Antique, French, Cast Iron Corking Machine

A wonderfully original example, this French, cast iron corking 'machine' dates to the turn of the century (c.1900) and has survived the decades in good order. A little superior to your standard example, this piece has wonderful detailing to the iron work and it's unusual to see the foot press in the form of a wine barrel or to have a trademark in the drip tray. The operator of the machine would be seated behind it (handle pointing towards the operator, foot press in front of them), a bottle would be placed on the platform and a cork into the opening of the circle and then the foot press pushes the platform and the bottle up whilst the lever pushes the cork down. Your standard early 20th century French wine bottle would come in the 75cl size we're still familiar with, but at the time they also had 'Demi' bottles (half sized) and a second, removable, platform slots in above the standard one to accommodate these. Due to a lack of popularity, the Demi bottle was phased out in the early 1900s so the presence of this second platform indicates that the machine is earlier than many examples and as a removable element it's nice, but unusual that it all remains complete. The machine does technically still function, though I think it's corking days are behind it, but with such a decorative piece of industrial equipment this doesn't matter. The machine retains traces of it's original turquoise coloured paint and this blends in well with the exposed metal areas. There is surface corrosion across the entireity of the piece and a couple of losses to the bottom lip (probably sat on a wet floor it's entire life) but in my opinion this all adds to the character of the piece. The machine stands 117cm high and around 46cm deep and the base is 29cm wide.