Salt Cellar thumbnail 1
Salt Cellar thumbnail 2
+6
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 125b

Salt Cellar

1874-1875 (hallmarked)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
Salt has always been the most important condiment on the table. The large centrepiece salts of the medieval to Tudor period were replaced in the 17th century by small individual salt cellars for each guest.

The Victorian Dining Table
At grand dinners individual silver, electroplate or glass salt cellars with spoons were placed above every place setting. It was just as correct to offer one salt cellar between two, which would still enable guests to have easy access to the condiment. At other meal times salts were often placed at the corners of the tables, and cruet stands, which were normally kept on the sideboard, could be placed on the table.

Design & Designing
Salt cellars could be purchased in a huge number of styles, from Gothic to Neo-classical, to match the consumer's taste or the fashion of the moment. Writers such as Charles Eastlake (1836-1906) criticised the endless Victorian appetite for novelty. In Hints on Household Taste, published in 1868, he wrote: 'There was a time when it was thought tasteful to let every knick-knack for the table assume an appearance which utterly belied its real purpose. Some of my readers may remember the little gilt Cupid wheeling a barrow full of salt, which once appeared in many an English dining-room.' The general form and the ball feet of this salt looks back to the early 19th century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver and enamel
Brief description
Silver and enamel, London hallmarks for 1874-5, mark of Thomas Smiley.
Physical description
Silver and enamel, one of a pair, circular bowl with the sides sloping inwards, resting on three ball feet. The sides decorated with a pray of flowers, engraved and enamelled.
Dimensions
  • Height: 3cm
  • Diameter: 5cm
Dimensions checked: measured; 07/06/1999 by Metalwork Department.
Marks and inscriptions
  • London hallmarks for 1874-5
  • Mark of Thomas Smiley
Gallery label
  • PAIR OF SALTS Silver and enamel LONDON; hallmark 1874 Made by Thomas Smiley M.29&A-1983(Pre-2000)
  • British Galleries: SALT CELLARS AND SPOONS
    Solid silver salt cellars feature in the Mappin Brothers catalogue of 1897. They came in sets of 4 or 6, including salt spoons, and were presented in a Morroco leather case. For a richly chased pattern, the price for a set of 4 was £4 15s (£4.75p), for a set of 6, £7. According to the cookery writer, Mrs Beeton, '....there should be a salt cellar between every two persons. Unless silver salt cellars are used, the glass ones should match the rest of the service. '(27/03/2003)
Summary
Object Type
Salt has always been the most important condiment on the table. The large centrepiece salts of the medieval to Tudor period were replaced in the 17th century by small individual salt cellars for each guest.

The Victorian Dining Table
At grand dinners individual silver, electroplate or glass salt cellars with spoons were placed above every place setting. It was just as correct to offer one salt cellar between two, which would still enable guests to have easy access to the condiment. At other meal times salts were often placed at the corners of the tables, and cruet stands, which were normally kept on the sideboard, could be placed on the table.

Design & Designing
Salt cellars could be purchased in a huge number of styles, from Gothic to Neo-classical, to match the consumer's taste or the fashion of the moment. Writers such as Charles Eastlake (1836-1906) criticised the endless Victorian appetite for novelty. In Hints on Household Taste, published in 1868, he wrote: 'There was a time when it was thought tasteful to let every knick-knack for the table assume an appearance which utterly belied its real purpose. Some of my readers may remember the little gilt Cupid wheeling a barrow full of salt, which once appeared in many an English dining-room.' The general form and the ball feet of this salt looks back to the early 19th century.
Associated object
M.29-1983 (Set)
Collection
Accession number
M.29A-1983

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Record createdApril 25, 2003
Record URL
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