Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 69, The Whiteley Galleries

Spice Dish

ca. 1575 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Small triangular salt cellars mounted on three feet were common pieces of tableware in affluent homes in late 16th-century Germany. The cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg dominated the goldsmiths’ craft in Germany from the 15th to the early 19th centuries. Engraved designs for silver flowed off their printing presses into workshops across Europe. Their goldsmiths and merchants travelled widely, the former sometimes settling in cities that promised new sources of patronage, the latter selling silver goods as far north as the Baltic Sea and as far east as Russia.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver-gilt
Brief description
Spice dish, gilded silver, engraved, Germany, ca. 1575
Physical description
Triangular dish, engraved with foliage on ball feet with three circular compartments.
Dimensions
  • Height: 2.30cm
  • Width: 12.00cm
Marks and inscriptions
On side: French import mark for 1838 - 1864
Gallery label
SPICE DISH Silver-gilt GERMAN. Unmarked. About 1575. 2109-1855.(Pre-2000)
Object history
Purchase - Bernal Collection
Summary
Small triangular salt cellars mounted on three feet were common pieces of tableware in affluent homes in late 16th-century Germany. The cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg dominated the goldsmiths’ craft in Germany from the 15th to the early 19th centuries. Engraved designs for silver flowed off their printing presses into workshops across Europe. Their goldsmiths and merchants travelled widely, the former sometimes settling in cities that promised new sources of patronage, the latter selling silver goods as far north as the Baltic Sea and as far east as Russia.
Collection
Accession number
2109-1855

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Record createdFebruary 9, 2004
Record URL
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