letter D, the arms of Norwich, and a cross mound within a lozenge. It

was made at Norwich, and its date is not later than 1568, for Peter Reade died in that year.

Then there is the wonderful Ashburnham salt cellar and cover of the time of Henry VII, the earliest standing salt, 12¹/₂ inches high, bearing the London hall-mark of the year 1508, and the maker’s mark, a rising sun. This was bought by Messrs. Crichton Brothers for £5,600.

Later salt cellars, while still being collectors’ pieces, depart from the older form when “below the salt” had no meaning. The old silver salt cellars of Queen Anne and Georgian days are another story. The elegance of form and the quaint reticence of design make them desirable acquisitions for any modern dining-table.

During the past twenty years, when the furniture of Chippendale and of Sheraton has been collected with such avidity to refurnish old homes and to give age to modern mansions, the demand for old silver accessories of the table has been equally great. In consequence, spurious silver of later date, with the old hall-marks cunningly inserted, has appeared in great quantities. As a warning to the collector of “old salts,” it cannot too strongly be urged that in his earliest flights he should consult a friend who has passed through the same stages before him. The same advice is, unfortunately, necessary in connection with collecting old china and old furniture. The literature of these two subjects is more ready to hand, and there are many popular handbooks designed to set the feet of the novice in collecting on the right path. In silver collecting there is always a sure road. In furniture or in china there is no puissant company of furniture experts or china moralists. The buyer may be advised to use his common sense and demand that the dealer put on the invoice the exact description of the goods he is selling. If after expert advice the purchaser finds he has been deceived, he has his remedy in a court of law. But with silver, there are the hall-marks determined by law for the protection of the public. The Goldsmiths’ Company exist to safeguard the public against fraud, and their honourable traditions extend, as we have seen, over four hundred years. If any buyer has any doubt as to the London marks or the provincial marks on a piece of silver he has purchased, it is easy to establish their authenticity. If, for instance, the mark is a London one, the Goldsmiths’ Company would obviously be pleased to discover the identity of any one counterfeiting their ancient marks. They have statutory powers to inflict fines on persons convicted of such malpractices, and in the public interest they would naturally prosecute inquiries as to how false marks came to be placed on silver purporting to be assayed by an old and honourable company.

You may search the chronological tables of the statutes through and through, and you will find nothing relative to punishments specially laid down to meet the case of fabricators of old furniture or old china, but in regard to forging old silver marks there are a multitude of protective measures. There is reform needed in the laws relating to silver, and urgently needed. We offer this suggestion to some Member of Parliament bursting to distinguish himself. It was urgently recommended by the Committee of 1856, and a Bill was prepared by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue in 1857, but nothing came of it. The Select Committee of the House of Commons, again, in 1879 made further recommendations, but no restrictive measure has ever been laid before Parliament. “There is much to say for the old demand of the Goldsmiths’ Company for further powers of enforcing the law than the mere right to sue for penalties. Sales by auction now take place with practical impunity, no matter how spurious and debased the goods may be, and there is evidence and to spare to show that the general sense of the trade and the public is in favour of the preservations of the old guarantee.”

The study of salt cellars suggests a flying word on the salt spoon. To quote from an essay by Addison, dated 1711, the _Spectator_ says, in an account he gives of dining with a fine lady: “In the midst of these my Musings she desires me to reach her a little Salt upon the point of my Knife, which I did in such Trepidation and hurry of Obedience, that I let it drop by the way, at which she immediately startled and said it fell towards her. Upon this I looked very blank; and, observing the Concern of the whole Table, began to consider myself with some confusion, as a person that had brought some Disaster upon the Family.” This is a pretty picture of eighteenth century “high life.” The superstition concerning the spilling of salt is still with us, but helping salt with a knife is no longer in fashion in “polite society.”

In general salt cellars may be classified as follows, commencing with the Standing Salt, with its determination of rank as to those who sat above the salt and those who sat below it:--

=Standing Salts.=--The earliest are shaped like hour-glasses. These belong to the fifteenth and first half of sixteenth century.

Cylindrical and casket forms, with rich ornamentation in repoussé work, with chased figures and surmounted by cover with standing figure, are found in the sixteenth century. _E.g._ the Standing Salt, part of the Stoke Prior treasure, dated 1563 (at the Victoria and Albert Museum).

The Bell-shaped Salt is of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and the tall Steeple Salt belongs to the same period. The above types often had compartments in tiers reserved for spices.

The circular and octagonal forms of lesser height, with three and sometimes four guards with scroll ends, belong to the seventeenth century.

=Trencher Salts.=--These were in use contemporaneously with the tall standing salts, either on less formal occasions or at the lower end of the table below _the_ salt.

Early forms in the first half of the seventeenth century are circular (1603) or triangular (1630). These were diminutive, measuring only some 3 inches across, and being sometimes only 1 inch high.

=Eighteenth-century Salts.=--A great variety of form is apparent, and many styles succeeded each other, disappearing only to be revived a quarter of a century later. Circular (1698-1710), oval, octagonal (1715-40), tripod (1750). Circular with three feet; oblong and octagonal, slightly taller (1775), with pierced work on four feet, and with glass liner. Oblong, plain, with four feet. Tureen-shaped or boat-shaped, plain, with swelling foot, sometimes with rings as handles, or with two handles (1780). Shell-shaped salts in vogue 1788; circular, vase-shaped, with lions’ heads and tripod feet (1798).

=Early Nineteenth-century Salts.=--George IV and William IV styles, a reversion to some of the older types. The tureen and the circular-shaped salt, with four or three feet (1820-1830). Circular bowls on stands, with tripod and elaborate feet, the fashion (1810-1830). Many pieces betray classical influence.

The illustrations of the various types of salt cellars should be sufficient to indicate to the reader the great field which is open to him. The examples range from the rarer earlier periods to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The descriptions given of the successive stages in fashion and in design should stimulate the interest of the student in regard to the undercurrents of evolution progressive, and often retrogressive, through three centuries of the silversmith’s art.

The standing salt, in hour-glass form, of the Gothic period at Christ’s College, Cambridge, illustrated (page 143), is in date about 1500. Its height is 9¹/₄ inches. It belongs to that great period of Henry VII. It is contemporary with the magnificent chapel in Westminster Abbey. It has survived the spoliation of the days of Henry VIII. Its perfect symmetry, its delicate ornament, its exquisite grace delight the eye. There is nothing redundant, nothing that calls for amendment. It stands as a perfect creation of the English silversmith. The unwritten, and never to be written, history of such a piece is not the least which appeals to us nowadays. We may revere the exquisite craft of the designer. But there is a tribute we owe to the sagacious custodians who, possibly in fear of death, preserved this for posterity. Its hiding-places, its narrow escapes, its glorious emerging into the light of day, to occupy a niche, almost sacred, in modern regard, these are happenings that cannot be chronicled. As an historic relic, a page remaining from the old history of these realms, such an example claims adoration.

A fine bell salt is illustrated (page 147). It is on three ball feet. It has the London mark, the letter D in Lombardic capitals, for 1601. It is decorated in upright panels, with flat chasing with floral design of roses. It is constructed in compartments for salt and spices and pepper. These bell salts belong to the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century; they are mostly on three feet. At the Dunn-Gardner sale, in 1902, £600 was paid for a specimen. They stand, in point of time, between the hour-glass form and the steeple salts. Few appear to have been made, or, at any rate, few are now in existence, and in consequence they bring great prices on account of their rarity.

The ring at the top is noticeable, mainly as the prototype of the ring-handle of cruets, with the same contents now in use three hundred years afterwards. And the ball foot, peculiar to the silversmith as something especially applicable to his technique is still retained in silver cruets of to-day.

The circular Stuart salt cellar comes straight from the days of Charles I. It has the date letter for 1638. See Marks illustrated page 365. This salt stood on the Mercers’ Company table in 1642--eventful year, when Charles was misguided enough to go in person to the House of Commons with his guards to arrest the five members. This was the signal for the Civil War. The salt cellar we now see was hurriedly put in the vaults of the Mercers’ Company. The trained-bands of London were up. The city declared for the Parliament, and Charles raised his standard at Nottingham. John Dethick, the donor, may have fought in the civic cause. Here is the salt he gave to his Company in those stirring days, an illustration of which we are enabled to produce by the courtesy of the Mercers’ Company. It has three handles with scroll ends. It is an important piece. It is silver-gilt, and engraved with the arms of the Mercers’ Company and the arms and crest of John Dethick.

The octagonal salt illustrated (p. 155) shows the style of Charles II. It has four handles with scroll ends. These handles were for supporting a napkin which was placed around the salt. It is of the year 1679, and the marks are illustrated on page 357. It is inscribed, “_Ex dono henrici Sumner M^{r}._” This is known as the Sumner Salt, and Henry Sumner, the donor, was Master of the Mercers’ Company at that date. Its diameter is 9¹/₂ inches and its greatest height is 8³/₈ inches. This is the year of the _Habeas Corpus Act_. This Act defines the liberties of the subject. All prisoners except those charged with felony or treason can demand that they be brought before a judge to test the validity of their detention. All persons charged with felony or treason must be tried at the next sessions or else admitted to bail, or, failing this, be discharged. No person could be recommitted for the same offence and no person imprisoned beyond the sea. Heavy penalties were imposed on those who violated this Act.

Contemporary with the silversmith’s work it is interesting to notice in passing what the potter was doing. We illustrate (p. 161) a Lambeth delft salt cellar of the late seventeenth century. Its height is only 4¹/₂ inches. It simulates the silver style. The guards or handles are more shell-like in form than those of the silversmith. The technique of the potter with his twisting of the plastic clay is responsible of this. But the furniture maker of the period has something to add, too, in regard to this form of ornament. In his technique it is termed the “Spanish foot.” It appears in feet and in the scrolls of handles for chairs.

A salt cellar of Rouen faience is illustrated (p. 161) of the early eighteenth century. In height this is 3 inches. It shows the square form, with slight depressed surface at apex for the salt, as though the salt were a rare commodity. It is interesting, and should help the student to cast his eyes farther afield in attempting to arrive at conclusions in regard to definite styles.

Of Trencher salts there is much to say. All that is not poetry is prose, as Monsieur Jourdain found out. A salt may be Standing--that is, it may be a ceremonial piece demanding the ritual of its order--or it may be a mere trencher salt; the name indicates its usage. Instead of being among the great folk, it was among the dependents at the lower stratum of the table. Trencher salts were once menial in the earlier periods, but as time went on the great standing salt disappeared and trencher salts became general for gentle and simple.

Throughout the eighteenth century, from Queen Anne to George IV (1820), and in succeeding years the salts were all trencher salts--because there were none other.

In the early days trencher salts were associated with servility or with dependence, but later the salt at the elbow of the master of the feast carried with it nothing derogatory.

From Queen Anne, 1702, to the end of the reign of George I, 1727, little difference is noticeable and the lowly trencher salt changes very slightly. It is oblong or it becomes octagonal. But in practical form it is substantially the same. Two specimens exhibiting this are given (p. 165).

The circular salts, with three feet, belong to the early George III period. The feet in these are in hoof form with cone-shaped terminals (see illustration, p. 165).

The early George III period exhibits other varieties of the salt cellar. There was the wire-work cellar with cast additions, and the pierced and cut sheet silver. Most of these types are oblong in shape and were designed to receive a glass liner. These specimens are usually with four feet. The example dated 1769 is of wire work. The other example adjacent with floral wreath, dated 1785, is in the French style, which became prevalent at the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The feet of these examples are usually claw-and-ball or lion’s paw feet. It may be interesting to note the contemporary styles of the chair maker. The same influences were at work governing the worker in wood and the craftsman in metal.

The cloven-hoof foot or the club terminal are found in the round shaped salt cellar in the same period or slightly later. Usually this type is found with three feet. This plain form dispenses with the glass liner.

Towards the close of the eighteenth century the styles become varied. There is the tureen form, from which type many variations are based. Similarly the boat-shaped salt is typical of many similar plain designs of this nature--some with two handles.

The examples illustrated (p. 171), in vogue from 1781 to 1797, show the generic type from which similar forms deviate.

As in the above types the swelling foot is a feature, so with other examples, from 1789 to 1803, the foot disappears. The piece in date 1789, illustrated (p. 171), may be compared with similar circular forms made by the Staffordshire potters in lustreware for cottage use.

The washing-tub shaped salt cellar, in date 1803, indicates the decadence of design. The opening years of the nineteenth century show these poor forms in replacement of the early designs.

Specimens of the days of George IV and William IV (one in date 1820 and the other 1832) are illustrated (p. 173). Here is a reversion to older forms, the tureen shape with gadrooned edge and with four legs, and the circular form with three legs.

Of the circular form the classic rotund urn or vase shape seized the fancy of the silversmith at various periods. As early as 1771 we find the form in the perforated work, with swags and classic ornamentation, rather suggestive of French fashions, and obviously intended for use with a glass liner. This is illustrated (p. 173), and adjacent is a piece dated 1810, made by Messrs. Rundell, Bridge, and Rundell, of the late George III period. It is important, as it is silver-gilt. It stands as typical of the attempt to popularize the Pompeiian forms. The winged figure, found on tables of the period, the tripod feet of club or goat-like form, the base with key-pattern ornament, stamp it as of the First Empire. George III was not yet dead, he was only insane, and Bonaparte had not been banished to St. Helena. In fact, Wellington was fighting in Spain, and Waterloo had yet to be fought in 1815. But here is a piece with the same artistic impulses as the chairs and tables at Fontainebleau.

The story of the salt cellar comes to an end. Its customs and its dignities are lost except to those who love the delving into the record of the manners of past days, “now here, at upper end o’ the table, now i’ the middle.” The salt cellar has a complete history for three hundred years, and with its evolution _pari passu_ is the march of social custom.

SALE PRICES

STANDING SALTS.

£ Elizabethan (1573), 10 oz. 245 “ (1577), 13 oz. 18 dwts. 720@ James I (bell-shaped) (1608) 336 ” “ (1613) 1,150@@@

TRENCHER SALTS.

£ William and Mary, 235s. per oz. 20 William III (3) (1698), 132s. per oz. 60 Queen Anne (2), oval (1708), 165s. per oz. 40 “ (2), circular (1713), 195s. per oz. 28@ George I bring from 60s. to 80s. per oz. George II bring about 30s. to 40s. per oz. Sets of four and six bring higher prices per oz. After this date prices drop considerably.@

V

THE SPOON