Original Old Wine Barrel Carvings

Barrel carvings were considered decorative and provided a  symbol of status for breweries, wineries, restaurants and nobility.   Few people even remember the names of the carvers who created these unique pieces of wine history.  This page is devoted to some of the old barrel carvings I have found throughout the Internet or had the chance to document myself.

During a trip to Temecula, CA. , I came across four old barrel carvings at Hart Winery.   The barrels were hand carved by Tom Freestone, who has since passed away.   

To see the other carved barrel heads at Hart Winery go to our Hart Winery Barrel Carvings page.

The largest collection of wine barrel carvings in the United States is the work of one man - the late Earle Brown.  His work may be seen at Sebastiani Winery in Sonoma, CA.  Of course, thanks to their permission I can show you some of his work right here.  Check out our - Tribute to Earle Brown!

I was very thrilled to get these pictures, which had been removed from the original web site.  I contacted the site owners Stuttgart Wolfgang and Patricia Fischer and they kindly  located the file and sent it to me!

The carving was sold on their website, which also features some incredible examples of German woodcarving.  I highly recommend you visit their site:   www.fischer-antics.de

Again I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Wolfgang and Ms. Fischer for allowing me to post these pictures here.  They are excellent examples of old world barrel carving. 

Please note that these three pictures are copyrighted by Stuttgart Wolfgang and Patricia Fischer.

The picture to the left shows a hand carved wine barrel that was used in a wine baptism celebration.

You can see additional pictures of this carved cask by visiting:

Heidelberg Photo Gallery

I came across these pictures by John Blankenbaker of the wine casks at Heidelberg Castle in Germany.  While the large wine vat has carving, it appears to be attached to the vat instead of actually carved into the wood.  Check out the photo of the Kleine wine vat.  The "tiny" one next to it apparently has an original carved head.  Heidelberg Castle is definitely on my list of stops when I attempt to document some of the original German barrels.

I would like to thanks John for allowing me to link to his page!  You may want to check out some of his other travels while you are there!

This page is by no means finished.  I prefer to obtain permission before including a picture or linking to a website.  Some e-mail requests have yet to be answered.  If you know of a website, or have a picture you think would fit here, please e-mail Tom.