•D2359. Pair of Polychrome Figural Salt Cellars

The modeled female figure wearing a broad-brimmed manganese hat on her blue hair, a green bodice with a blue stomacher above a blue floral patterned yellow skirt revealing one yellow-buckled iron-red shoe; and a modeled gentleman wearing a manganese tricorn hat on his swept-back blue hair, a yellow-buttoned green coat over a blue waistcoat, blue breeches and yellow-buckled manganese shoes; each holding a yellow and blue-striped diaper-work basket and cover surmounted by a yellow and iron-red flowerhead.

DIMENSIONS
Height: 14.5 cm. (5.8 in.)

PROVENANCE
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam, 2005; Dutch Private Collection

LITERATURE
Described and illustrated in catalogue PAN Amsterdam 2005, p. 47

NOTE
Salt was considered a centerpiece of both the Medieval and Renaissance table top. Through the seventeenth and into the eighteenth century, it remained an important indicator of wealth and status on the dining table. The presentation vessels that contained salt were often sizable and impressive. Figural salts are however rare. Of the figural salt cellars known, often the lady or gentleman is holding one or two basins. One elaborate example of a lady and a gentleman with four basins can be found in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. BK-14969). The Kunstmuseum, The Hague has a unique salt cellar that includes a candlestick and mustard jar with a gentleman (inv. no. 0400782). These table pieces were modeled in the latest Rococo fashion, probably after German porcelain examples.