Accession Number

1989.002.0004a

Alternate object names

Standing Salt;Renaissance Standing Salt

Creation Date

circa 1600

Description

A silver gilt salt cellar, or standing salt, recovered from the wreck of the 1622 galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. In the seventeenth century salt was a valuable commodity, and it was presented at the table in a manner that reflected its worth. This domed stand has a removable top that covered a mound of salt. The lid was lifted, and a pinch of salt was taken to season food. A particularly ostentatious standing salt like this one was also known as a “great salt,” and a person’s status determined where they sat at the table relative to it. This piece is 25.0 centimeters tall by 11.5 cm square at the base and 6.3 cm square at the top.

Exhibition Label

Case Caption (2023): N/A
Object Caption (2023): 

Salt Cellars
Silver gilt and silver, (possibly Peru, c.1600)
Gifts of Dr. Edwin Davis, Jamestown Inc., T.S.I Liquidation Trust
1986.008.0610a, 1989.002.0004a, 1999.007.0003a

Salt was a precious commodity during the 1600s and the lavish display of salt implied the wealth of the owner.

Of these salt cellars, the largest would have been known as a “great salt.” It would have been placed on the high table, next to the host, who would share the condiment with his most important guests. Great salts were often exchanged as New Year's gifts among the nobility and passed on as heirlooms. Although salts frequently appear in household inventories of the period, few physical examples survive today.

Simpler in design, the smaller salts would have been objects of prestige and value in the home of a well-to-do colonist. Originally, they would have been gilded and decorated with colorful enamels.