Vintage French Wire Dish Rack from Patricia Wells’ Kitchen Sink

A vintage French dish rack strainer from the kitchen sink at Chanteduc, Patricia Wells’ home in Provence, and one of two sourced for the house. Made of sturdy wire with a deep, timeworn patina, it is broad and low, with curved dividers for plates and open slats for glasses and bowls. Its honest wear reflects years of daily use yet it remains sound and practical, the kind of hardworking piece that suits a marble or farmhouse sink or sits neatly on a comptoir (counter). From Patricia Wells’ personal collection, this rack carries the warmth of her cooking and teaching at Chanteduc. Patricia recalls, “I never see them for sale anymore. I’m a stupid romantic, and a dish strainer like this belongs in an old sink.” She and Walter found two sinks in the Luberon near Apt, one marble and one stone. Their dear friend Viviani, the plumber who did the kitchen, took the heavy marble basin to the marble worker to have the drainage holes drilled. When he returned for the last-minute installation, too late to change course, he joked, “It almost broke in half.”