For years, Ed and Diana Throckmorton have traveled to France on antiques-buying trips for their Harbor Springs, Michigan, shop, L’Esprit Antiques (195 W. Main Street, Harbor Springs, MI 49740; 231-526-9888; www.lesprit.com). They have watched the popularity of country French antiques of all sorts—from farm tables to armoires to faux bamboo mirrors—ebb and surge.

French country antiques
Ed Throckmorton said recently that one of the most popular categories of country French antiques right now is wine-related paraphernalia. “Bon bonne verre glass jars, metal hotte harvesting baskets and wooden riddler boards used in champagne making are all quite popular both for their look and their interesting origins,” says Throckmorton.

Bon Bonne Verre Jars
The bon bonne verre jars were used in the late-19th and early-20th century for storing wine. The jars were made in a variety of sizes and typically had a straw covering. When the Throckmortons find them, they are often encrusted with dirt and filled with residue and sediment. Whether left as found, or cleaned up, the jars sell equally well back in the United States. “Some people like them clean, others like the grungy condition,” says Throckmorton, who has seen the jars used as vases or lamps. Sizes vary from 11 to 26 inches high, and prices range from $225 to $525.

Grape-Picker Metal Hottes
Antique metal hottes are popular as well. These containers were worn on the backs of grape pickers in Burgundy, fastened in place by leather straps. The vessels range in size from 30 to 40 inches high with a wide opening at the top. “They are great as display objects, hung on a wall with large-scale branches or leaves in them,” says Throckmorton. Made from the late 1800s to mid 1900s, the metal hottes are sometimes found with original paint, or initials identifying the picker who once wore them, or with numbers inscribed that tallied the grapes harvested.

Champagne Riddler Boards
Oak riddler boards , a sandwich-board structure with rows of bottle-sized holes, were built to hold bottles for easy turning early in the champagne-making process. The antique boards can be found in the champagne districts of France. They are popular among collectors either left intact as found, or made into wine racks. A riddler that holds 120 bottles (60 per side) and stands 58 inches high fetches a price of about $700 to $800; made into wine racks; the riddlers sell for $200 to $400.