{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O157629"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O157629/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC6474/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CC6474/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CC6474","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6475","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CC6453","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London/ © the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O157629/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O157629","accessionNumber":"LOAN:GILBERT.532:1 to 3-2008","objectType":"Standing salt","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"In England the relative value of salt and the necessity for its use from the Middle Ages gave this commodity a place of honour at the table. The container used to hold it, the standing salt, thus gained social importance as well as providing a practical function. The standing salt was placed upon the table as a decorative centre piece. The surface of this particular example is decorated with stamped, chased and embossed decoration. It is surmounted by a warrior figure that holds a spear and a shield.\r\n\r\nFor those who could afford such a luxury, salt cellars (often referred to as salts) were the most common household item after spoons and cups. These salts also carried symbolic meaning and royal goldsmiths' accounts show that they were purchased as christening gifts for the children of courtiers. The inclusion of salts in lists of heirloom plate also demonstrates that these were considered to be of relative personal significance.\r\n\r\nSir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes.  Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.","physicalDescription":"The cylindrical body of this standing salt stands on a domed foot which is stamped around its border with bands of egg-and-dart ornament and 'X's. The domed section is embossed with three lion masks amid strapwork and sprays of fruit on a punched matted ground. The body (or drum) is similarly chased between bands of ovolo ornament, stamped 'X's and circles. At the top of the body is a reversed domed section and this is chased in a manner similar to the foot and contains a plain receptacle for salt. The cover is domed in two stages, and its chasing echoes that of the body. It has a wide flange stamped with egg-and-dart ornament and a broad border, crimped and engraved with radiating wrigglework. The finial section is of spool form, chased above and below with fruit, with three applied S-scroll brackets; it is surmounted by a warrior figure holding a shield and a spear.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver-gilt","id":"x37998"}],"techniques":[{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"},{"text":"stamping (marking)","id":"AAT239001"},{"text":"embossing","id":"AAT53826"},{"text":"chasing","id":"AAT54016"},{"text":"engraving (incising)","id":"AAT53829"},{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"},{"text":"applied","id":"AAT53646"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Raised, cast and applied silver-gilt with stamped and embossed decoration","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Ceremonial objects","id":"THES48981"},{"text":"Food vessels & Tableware","id":"THES48952"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2009CC6474","2009CC6475","2009CC6453"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"72A","id":"THES413998"},"free":"","case":"CA014","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"72A","id":"THES413998"},"free":"","case":"CA014","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"72A","id":"THES413998"},"free":"","case":"CA014","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"standing salt","id":""}],[{"text":"cover","id":""}],[{"text":"dish","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"hallmarked","id":"x32454"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1581-1582","earliest":"1581-05-29","latest":"1582-05-28"},"association":{"text":"hallmarked","id":"x32454"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"28.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"10","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"0.46","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measuresed by Issy Warnham 20/12/2023","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"RM","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Maker's mark punched inside the saltcellar and cover.(unidentified)"},{"content":"London hallmarks for 1581-2","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Provenance:\r\nBaron Lionel de Rothschild;\r\nAlfred de Rothschild;\r\nSale, Sotheby's, May 9, 1946, lot 116;\r\nFrank Green, sale, Christie's, May 4, 1949, lot 139;\r\nMrs E.S. Borthwick-Norton, sale, Christie's, October 28, 1953, lot 146;\r\nSale, Christie's, June 25, 1980, lot 98.\r\nAcquired by Arthur Gilbert from S.J. Phillips Ltd, London, 1980.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver-gilt Londson hallmarks for 1581-2, mark of RM (unidentified)","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Clayton, Michael. <u>Christie's pictorial history of English and American silver</u>. Oxford: Phaidon/Christie's, 1985, cat. no.1, p. 34. ISBN.0714880183"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Schroder, Timothy.  'Early English silver rarities'.  <u>The Antique Collector</u>.  June 1986, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 114-21, fig. 9, p. 121."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Schroder, Timothy. <u>The Gilbert collection of gold and silver</u>. Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 1988, cat. no. 9, pp. 60-61."},{"reference":{"text":"Robinson, J.C. (ed.). <i>Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Mediaeval, Renaissance, and more recent periods: on loan at the South Kensington Museum, June 1862.</i> London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M. Stationery Office, rev. ed. January 1863.","id":"AUTH354391"},"details":"no. 5749","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"<i>Catalogue of the exhibition of choice old English plate from private collections : in aid of the funds of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England</i>, London : Garrads, 1915","id":"AUTH354789"},"details":"no.166","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"<i>Works by the old masters : and by deceased masters of the British school, including a collection illustrating the sculptor-goldsmith's art, chiefly of the 15th and 16th centuries</i>, London : Printed by W. Clowes and Sons for the Royal Academy, 1895","id":"AUTH354790"},"details":"F.5","free":""}],"production":"The maker's mark 'RM' is unrecorded by Jackson, 1921.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"(Gallery 70, case 1)\r\n18. Standing salt, 1581–82\r\nLondon, England; maker’s mark RM\r\nGilded silver\r\nMuseum no. Loan:Gilbert.532:1 to 3-2008","date":{"text":"16/11/2016 - 2024","earliest":"2016-11-16","latest":"2024-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["LOAN:GILBERT.532:1-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.532:2-2008","LOAN:GILBERT.532:3-2008"],"accessionNumberNum":"532","accessionNumberPrefix":"LOAN:GILBERT","accessionYear":2008,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"SG 110"},{"type":{"text":"Arthur Gilbert Number","id":"THES50383"},"number":"GB 215"},{"type":{"text":"The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House","id":"THES50384"},"number":"1998.17"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","standing salt","cover","dish"],"assets":["2018LC1723","2019LP8481","2019LP2558","2019LU0429","2019LV1055","2019LW6506","2019LW5328"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-12","recordCreationDate":"2008-06-26","availableToBook":false}}