The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Pair of Saltcellars

Pair of Saltcellars

c. 1570–90
maker
(Italian)
Overall: 20.3 x 21 x 12.8 cm (8 x 8 1/4 x 5 1/16 in.)

Did You Know?

During the Renaissance, salt was an expensive commodity and was used to both season and preserve food.

Description

During the Italian Renaissance of the 1400s and 1500s, nobles and merchants eager to express their wealth and sophistication ordered ceramics for dining, display, and storage. Known as maiolica, because it resembled the brightly colored ceramics from the Mediterranean island of Majorca, these ceramic vessels were covered with a tin glaze that provided an opaque white surface on which colorful decoration could be painted.
  • Samuel Mather, Cleveland.
  • Foote, Helen S. “Gifts to the Majolica Collection.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 4 (April 1946): 36–38. Mentioned: pp. 36-7 25141269
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 48, fig. 50
  • Consuming Passions: The Art of Food and Drink. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 26-October 9, 1983).
    No legacy exhibitions.
    Classic to Baroque: A Style Change in the Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30-November 13, 1949).
  • {{cite web|title=Pair of Saltcellars|url=false|author=the Patanazzi Family|year=c. 1570–90|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1945.126