A Primitive Tool In The Wine History Project Of San Luis Obispo County Collection

California is a good place to find viticultural history. The wine artifacts of this state largely date from the late 18th to the mid-20th centuries and include cellar instruments, cooperage equipment, and field tools. These tools were either: used in the state; obtained by collectors in the state; originally purchased from national or international businesses by wineries or growers in this state; or, created by California residents.

Looking for the oldest artifact in a specific region for a specific type of history explains how important the artifact is to the cultural development of the regional area. This collection has been developed over time by multiple methods of discovery.

The average visitor to a museum might have the question of “how old is this artifact” right after “who made this”, or “why did they make it”. Usually, when one is viewing the artifact in museums, they tend to be accompanied by tags or labels that answer these types of questions.

But with an online image collection, one must depend on the information being included with the description. The specific date and age of an artifact determine much more than the number. What was going on in the culture at that date in history sets the stage for the history of the development of industry and tools.

A primitive tool is any basic, manually operated implement made from natural materials without modern manufacturing. This type of tool represents early human ingenuity. Primitive describes things that are simple, crude, or little evolved.

The Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County has a few artifacts that we have dated earlier than 1850. One of these is a wine funnel for barrels that is made of wood, and its elongated log shape is an example of a primitive style.

Common materials used for primitive wine funnels were often hand-forged or coopered. Historically, these funnels were crafted from materials like copper, brass, pewter, or hand-blown glass. Larger coopered wooden funnels were used at the bulk production stage for transferring wine into oak casks. We believe the artifact we have, WF8, is a very rare type of funnel.