Standing salt
- Place of origin:
London, England (hallmarked)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver-gilt with stamped, chased and embossed ornament
- Credit Line:
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum number:
LOAN:GILBERT.526:1 to 3-2008
- Gallery location:
Gold, Silver & Mosaics, room 70, case 1, shelf 3
- Image in copyright
In England the relative value of salt and the necessity for its use from the Middle Ages gave this commodity a place of honour at the table. The container used to hold it, the standing salt, thus gained social importance as well as providing a practical function. The standing salt was placed upon the table as a decorative centre piece. The surface of this particular example is decorated with stamped, chased and embossed decoration. It is surmounted by a warrior figure that holds a spear and a shield.
For those who could afford such a luxury, salt cellars (often referred to as salts) were the most common household item after spoons and cups. These salts also carried symbolic meaning, and royal goldsmiths' accounts show that they were purchased as christening gifts for the children of courtiers. The inclusion of salts in lists of heirloom plate also demonstrates that these were considered to be of relative personal significance.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Physical description
A cylindrical standing salt with a domed foot and a reversed domed section at the top of the body. The foot is stamped with bands of ovolo ornament and dentils around its border; the domed section is embossed with three masks, strapwork and sprays of fruit. The body has been chased in a similar manner between raised ornamental bands and stamped circles. The reversed domed section to the top of the body is embossed with fluting, flowers and panels of raised beading. The saltcellar is plain but has been engraved with fruit and strapwork. The domed cover has a similarly engraved border and a wide flange that has been stamped with egg-and-dart ornament. This is embossed in the same manner as the foot and has a finial with three applied S-scroll brackets, surmounted by the figure of a warrior holding a spear and shield.
Place of Origin
London, England (hallmarked)
Date
1572-1573 (hallmarked)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Silver-gilt with stamped, chased and embossed ornament
Marks and inscriptions
London hallmarks for 1572-3
Mark unidentified, possibly an eagle
Sterling standard
Dimensions
Height: 27 cm, Diameter: 10.5 cm, Weight: 500 g
Object history note
Provenance: Purrchased from S.J.Phillips Ltd. of London in 1982.
Historical context note
In England the standing salt fulfilled a social and a practical function. The necessity for salt from the Middle Ages meant that it demanded a place at the dining table. The rarity of the commodity resulted in its container gaining social importance and being of a size much larger than actually needed for the salt it contained. This particular salt is known as a drum salt and appeared during the middle of the 16th century, along with the sqaure-section pedestal salt. By the end of the 16th century, the bell salt was far more popular. Nevertheless, the standing salt prevailed in traditional institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge colleges and London livery guilds, where the ceremonial function of dining continued.
Descriptive line
Silver-gilt standing salt, London hallmarks for 1572-3
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Schroder, Timothy. 'Early English silver rarities'. The Antique Collector. June 1986, vol. 57, no. 6, pp.114-21.
Schroder, Timothy. The Gilbert collection of gold and silver, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. 8, pp. 57-9. ISBN.0875871445
Production Note
Maker's mark possibly an eagle
Materials
Silver-gilt
Techniques
Gilding; Engraving (incising); Casting; Chasing; Embossing; Raising; Stamping (marking)
Subjects depicted
Strapwork; Fluting; Warrior; Beading (edging pattern); Masks (design elements); Egg and dart moldings; Shields (armor); Dentils; Spears (weapons); Ovolo moldings
Categories
Containers; Metalwork; Food vessels & Tableware
Collection code
MET
