The simple yet ingenious corkscrew is believed to date from Roman times, and its history has made it inherently collectable. There is even an organisation known as the International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts, members of which travel the globe in search of rare specimens. No one has really traced the twists and turns of the corkscrew’s development, but the Roman poet Horace mentions the use of corks in wine containers, so presumably these under-appreciated devices were around in Roman times.

About the earliest uncorking device in Britain is the 17th-century example residing in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which has a decorative handle and a screw protected by an openwork shield. Most 18th-century corkscrews were made from steel or brass, with fitted covers so they could be carried in a pocket without ripping its lining.

It wasn’t until 1795 that Reverend Samuel Henshall registered the first corkscrew patent. He cleverly incorporated a disc at the top of the corkscrew to compress the top of the cork and to limit the travel of the screw.

This opened the floodgates to a deluge of bright ideas. The Victorians decided that they could come up with something better and set about designing wine-opening tools of ever more bizarre construction. There were devices with superstructures to provide extra leverage, corkscrews with accessories for cutting the foil off bottles or brushing off bits of sealing wax, and miniature versions made for the removal of tiny corks from medicine bottles. Some designs even incorporated nutmeg graters to allow the gentleman owner to add flavour to the punchbowl.

By the end of the 19th century there were more than 300 corkscrew patents, many British, but also some registered by American, French, German and Scandinavian makers. The Germans and the French saw the novelty potential and made saucy designs in which the spreading levers looked like a woman’s legs.

In the early 1970s, the collectability of the corkscrew became apparent.

When ceramics expert Richard Dennis began buying examples to sell at his London shop, he found they were being snapped up within days. In 1996 he sold his 600-strong collection for more than £107,000 (about €202,000 in today’s money).

A year later the world of corkscrews was startled when a record £18,400 was paid at Christie’s in London for an 18th-century English silver pocket corkscrew from the collection of Dr Bernard Watney, co-author of the seminal tome Corkscrews for Collectors. Engraved with the inscription “From the Queen Jan 1910”, this prince of corkscrews is thought to have been a gift from Queen Alexandra.

The record was equalled the following year when an 1842 example by Robert Jones was sold from the collection of Herbert Miles, firmly establishing the corkscrew as a valuable work of art.

Christie’s in South Kensington, London, is the only major saleroom to hold auctions dedicated to corkscrews. If you’re buying one for use as a working tool, however, you might want to bear in mind the findings of a recent study by the California Wine Institute, which states that you should ensure that your corkscrew is “long enough to penetrate fully through a long wine cork and also to provide a lifting surface below it; that the point be so situated as to make a path through the cork that the centre of the threads would follow; that the distance between threads be uniform; that the edges of the threads be not sharp.” Armed with this knowledge, you’re prepared to pop a cork and pour yourself a drink. Cheers!

For information on buying or selling corkscrews, contact Dennis Cox at Christie’s on +44 (0)20 7752 3263 or email dcox@christies.com