Salt Cellar
late 18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This small salt cellar would have stood close to an individual plate. These smaller containers developed in the early 17th century to replace the less convenient central standing salt. This piece, made in the period 1750-1800, has the pierced oval shape, four ball and claw feet and coloured glass liner typical of salts in the Neo-classical style.
The pierced decoration on this Sheffield plate salt cellar was stamped using a fly press. Fly presses contained a shaped punch which pressed out patterns in silver-plated copper. Silversmiths traditionally used a fretsaw to cut patterns out of silver sheet. However, the sawing of plated objects tended to disturb the thin layer of silver and expose the edge of the copper beneath the silver plate. By contrast, as the fly press pierced the plate metal, it also ingeniously dragged the top layer of silver over the edge of the copper. It joined it to the layer of silver on the underside and concealed the cut copper edge.
The pierced decoration on this Sheffield plate salt cellar was stamped using a fly press. Fly presses contained a shaped punch which pressed out patterns in silver-plated copper. Silversmiths traditionally used a fretsaw to cut patterns out of silver sheet. However, the sawing of plated objects tended to disturb the thin layer of silver and expose the edge of the copper beneath the silver plate. By contrast, as the fly press pierced the plate metal, it also ingeniously dragged the top layer of silver over the edge of the copper. It joined it to the layer of silver on the underside and concealed the cut copper edge.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Sheffield plate |
| Brief description | Salt cellar with red glass liner, Sheffield plate, English, late 18th century |
| Physical description | Salt cellar, oval, pierced with vertical slits and borders of ovals. On four ball and claw feet, engraved with the initial B. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Henry Louis Florence. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Retail |
| Summary | This small salt cellar would have stood close to an individual plate. These smaller containers developed in the early 17th century to replace the less convenient central standing salt. This piece, made in the period 1750-1800, has the pierced oval shape, four ball and claw feet and coloured glass liner typical of salts in the Neo-classical style. The pierced decoration on this Sheffield plate salt cellar was stamped using a fly press. Fly presses contained a shaped punch which pressed out patterns in silver-plated copper. Silversmiths traditionally used a fretsaw to cut patterns out of silver sheet. However, the sawing of plated objects tended to disturb the thin layer of silver and expose the edge of the copper beneath the silver plate. By contrast, as the fly press pierced the plate metal, it also ingeniously dragged the top layer of silver over the edge of the copper. It joined it to the layer of silver on the underside and concealed the cut copper edge. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.221&B-1917 |
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| Record created | September 23, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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