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Source Description
The concave hexagonal body flares into a molded circular base. In the receptacle (saleron) is delineated a female bust, in profile to the right, against a black background powdered with gilt dots. She wears a costume with square neckline, showing the frill of the underdress, and a blue bonnet encircled with a wreath of laurel. The molded rim is decorated with scrolls. Each of the six concave panels on the sides displays a full-length figure of a Muse playing a musical instrument. One is following the notes on a score with her left forefinger. The figures stand on basin-shaped podia, supported by brackets of foliage, and beneath canopies with lambrequins. Vines twisted around gilt rods separate the panels. The convex base is decorated with foliate scrolls animated by parrots. The underside is enameled in black powdered with fleurs-de-lys, quatrefoils and dots of gold. On the panel representing the Muse playing the guitar is lettered in gold the signature I L, with a fleur-de-lys painted faintly between the two initials.The shape of the salt cellar, a "piédouche" with hexagonal body, appeared in metalwork towards the end of the 16th century. Such enameled salt cellars were executed in pairs.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
25558
label
Salt Cellar: The Muses
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
25558
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Salt Cellar: The Muses
description
The concave hexagonal body flares into a molded circular base. In the receptacle (saleron) is delineated a female bust, in profile to the right, against a black background powdered with gilt dots. She wears a costume with square neckline, showing the frill of the underdress, and a blue bonnet encircled with a wreath of laurel. The molded rim is decorated with scrolls. Each of the six concave panels on the sides displays a full-length figure of a Muse playing a musical instrument. One is following the notes on a score with her left forefinger. The figures stand on basin-shaped podia, supported by brackets of foliage, and beneath canopies with lambrequins. Vines twisted around gilt rods separate the panels. The convex base is decorated with foliate scrolls animated by parrots. The underside is enameled in black powdered with fleurs-de-lys, quatrefoils and dots of gold. On the panel representing the Muse playing the guitar is lettered in gold the signature I L, with a fleur-de-lys painted faintly between the two initials.The shape of the salt cellar, a "piédouche" with hexagonal body, appeared in metalwork towards the end of the 16th century. Such enameled salt cellars were executed in pairs.
provenance
William Cosier [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Christie's, London, April 5, 1894, no. 106; Charles Borradaile, Brighton, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; George Robinson Harding, London, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1st quarter 17th century
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Enamels
saltcellars
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
10
height
14
dimensionsRaw
H: 3 15/16 x W: 5 1/2 in. (10 x 14 cm)
Source extras
med
painted enamel on copper
creator_ids
15374
17007
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
2299
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
18876c107e050926