The architect and designer Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was the foremost champion of the Gothic Revival, one of the most potent of the 19th-century historic styles. More of a philosophy than mere design movement, Pugin described Gothic in 1836 as "the only correct expression of the faith, wants, styles and climate of our country". It became virtually a national style when chosen for the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament in 1835. This salt cellar (one from a set of four) was designed by Pugin for his own house, 'The Grange', in Ramsgate. The set remained in the Pugin family until 1976, when two of the salt cellars and their spoons were purchased by the Museum.

Of all the collaborators with whom Pugin worked, John Hardman Jr was his closest friend and confidant. John Hardman Jr founded his metalworking company in Birmingham in 1838, soon after meeting Pugin. Pugin's influence on his life and career was enormous. Pugin designed his showroom in Great Charles Street and urged Hardman to expand his business in 1844 to include stained glass production. Their relationship was built on personal friendship, professional collaboration and shared devotion to the Catholic faith.

Pugin had converted to Catholicism in 1835, only six years after the Catholic Relief Act lifted legal restrictions on Catholics in public life. He proclaimed that 'the Roman Catholic Church is the only true one ... in which the grand and sublime style of architecture can ever be restored'. Pugin and Hardman's collaboration stimulated a demand for metalwork, textiles and stained glass that served both Catholic and Anglican churches and domestic interiors.

The architect and designer Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was the foremost champion of the Gothic Revival, one of the most potent of the 19th-century historic styles. More of a philosophy than mere design movement, Pugin described Gothic in 1836 as "the only correct expression of the faith, wants, styles and climate of our country". Mostly used in England for church architecture and furnishings it is rare to find items for the home in the Gothic style.This salt cellar (one from a set of four) was designed by Pugin for his own house in Ramsgate.

M.26&C-1976