High Bar
Description
Alter Interiors has created a 21st century version of a cellarette, which finally gives cannabis its proper place. This multi-use, functional piece of furniture beautifully displays or conceals both your booze and your bud.
Dimensions
48.5w x 83h x22d in
Estimated Lead Time
16-20 weeks
Read the full description here
Download Specifications
Inquire for custom options and pricing at info@alterinteriors.com
built in California by Valerie Alt
photography by Haley Heramb
From the Shang Dynasty’s ceremonial use of tea to a morning latte at the cafe on the corner. From Prohibition’s speakeasies to the local bar’s two-for-one happy hour. From the ancient cultic burning of cannabis to present-day marijuana dispensaries. Humans have always found occasion for and made a spectacle of their elixirs. And we have always designed spaces and furnishings to ritualize those elixirs.
Dating as far back as 760 BC in the Ancient Near East, cannabis was burned in a stone-constructed cella–the inner sanctum of a temple where the most holy items were stored. The Indo-European root of the term cella is “kel,” which means to cover, conceal, save. Think “wine cellar” or a 15th century “cellarette,” a wooden cabinet designed to secure whiskey and wine.
In Japan, large Zen temples were built so monks could drink their tea and meditate for long periods of time. While the British take on tea is less sacred, 19th century tea rooms were a place where women found tranquility and ritual. They became even more popular during the temperance movement, with afternoon tea time taking the place of cocktail hour for teetotalers.
Of course, alcohol prohibition did not eliminate our love of alcohol, but it did demand we conceal our booze in an updated version of the cellarette, at first glance appearing to be an ordinary piece of furniture, but upon closer inspection, secret drawers filled with spirits and serving accoutrements.
With the end of Prohibition, that stealthy cabinet came out of its shell. Our current glassed-in liquor cabinets proudly display a properly stocked bar, functioning as both furniture and setting for a nightly routine.
But what do we do with our cannabis? Hide our bud in the back of the freezer? Obscure our edibles in an old box thrown into the junk drawer? Stick our stinky bongs behind the couch? No longer!
It’s time (and legal in half the states) to show reverence for cannabis the way that our ancestors did in ancient civilizations. At Alter Interiors we have created a 21st century version of the cellarette which finally gives cannabis its proper place. This multi-use, functional piece of furniture beautifully displays or conceals both your booze and your bud.