Saltcellars (or salt cellars) were popular on dining tables during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Since salt was a rare commodity from the Middle Ages to the 16th century, saltcellars exemplified wealth. Made with metal or glass, they made the centrepieces of Medieval and Renaissance dining tables. A treatise from 1466 on table manners explains how one is to use this article of tableware:
"First uncover your salt. Then take your brode Knyfe in your right hande, and with the pynt therof take up one Trencher, and laye it on your Napkyn's ende in your lefte hande. Then with your brode Knyfe take a little Salt, and plane it on your Trencher, tyll it be even. Then with your brode Knyfe cut your Salt quadrant."
 |
| the gold saltcellar is located at the centre of the table in this Medieval feast illustration |
Saltcellars were made of different shapes and sizes. Some of them are quite elaborate! The most famous one is the figural type by Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. His saltcellar was made for King François 1 in 1543 and is currently located at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Made of gold, ebony, and enamel, the salt cellar is composed of allegorical Earth and Sea figures. The female is the goddess of Earth, while the male is Neptune, god of the Seas. Below them are carved personifications of the time of the days and the four winds. In addition carved horses and sea creatures surround the artwork. The temple is for pepper, while Neptune's boat carries salt.
Here are other examples of salt cellars:
 |
| Parisian artwork, 1527-8 |
 |
| France, 1400 |
 |
| England, 1662 |
Sources:
Nice pictures! This also reminds me of gravy boats of today. I wonder if there is a connection.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty cool how precious salt was to them. So precious that they kept it inside gold. cool pictures!
ReplyDeleteWhy not, at your next dinner party (!), have a thicker salt on the table in a bowl. These days sea salt comes in thicker grains and would be easy to have at table medieval-style.
ReplyDelete