Salt and pepper boxes

By the late 17th century, salt, which had been contained in extraordinarily ornate receptacles during the medieval and renaissance periods, had lost its prior ceremonial significance. Changes in custom and dining practices led to spice and condiments being used at a diner’s discretion. New, much smaller, forms developed during the eighteenth century. Salt or pepper boxes were generally made in sets so that each diner could have one within easy reach.



In the late eighteenth century a new type in the neo-classic taste developed with a pierced frame supported on four little feet. Provided with a clear or blue glass liner, the glass prevented the salt from corroding the silver. Here, one box is open, presumably to contain salt, while the other is lidded which may have contained pepper.



Daughter of one of the founders of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Catherine D. Wentworth (1865–1948) was an art student and painter who lived in France for thirty years. She became one of the most important American collectors of eighteenth-century French silver and on her death in 1948 bequeathed part of her significant collection of silver, gold boxes, French furniture, and textiles to the Metropolitan Museum. The collection is particularly strong in domestic silver as illustrated by these salt and pepper boxes.