Standing Salt with Cover

Applied Arts of Europe

1583/84

English, London

The ornamentation on this standing salt with cover—with its grotesque masks, cornucopias, and clusters of grapes and other fruits—alludes to the opulence of 16th-century banquets. While the appearance of salt, a highly desirable and expensive commodity in medieval and early-modern Europe, announced the status of the host, a guest’s position in relation to the placement of the salt at the table also signaled his or her status, since only the most important guests were seated "above the salt."

Currently Off View: Applied Arts of Europe

Title: Standing Salt with Cover
Origin: London
Date: 1583–1584
Medium: Silver gilt
Dimensions: H: 31.1 cm (12 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Stanley Keith
Reference Number: 1948.71a-b

E. Alfred Jones, Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Old Plate of J. Pierpont Morgan, Esq. (London, 1908) p. 14.
Meyric R. Rogers, Early Silver from the Morgan Collection, The Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 42, 5 (September 1948), pp. 59-64, here 60, fig, 1.
Antiques, vol. LV, no. 1 (January 1949), p. 65.
Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 1952), ill.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, French, English, and American Silver, 1956, cat. 148.
Art Institute of Chicago, Renaissance Decorative Arts from Chicago Collections, 1987, cat. 37.

Earl of Durham, Lambton Castle, Co. Durham [according to Morgan sale catalogue, 1947, p. 148]; J. P. Morgan, London and New York, by 1908 [See Jones, 1908, p. 14], who purchased it from Percy Lowe, London [according to Morgan sale catalogue, 1947, p. 148]; estate of J. P. Morgan [sold, New York, Parke-Bernet, October 30, 31-November 1, 1947, no. 462]; gift of Mrs. Stanley Keith to museum, 1948 [purchased through Peter Guille, Ltd., NY, for $3,780 according to note in curatorial file].

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