In the finest homes across Europe, table salts were the art of the greatest goldsmiths and silversmiths of their time. In the homes of the more common yeoman, salts were likely to be made of wood; treen. In this example is a turned Lignum Vitae table salt, English, late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, the block of wood considerately chosen to make the most of the contrasting heart wood and sap wood.
3 7/8 in dia x 2 ½ in high
Lignum Vitae; wood of life; the name by which this wood was known from early in the 16th century, due largely to the belief that its sawdust could be taken as a curative, especially of the pox. By the end of this same century, the great advantages of turning this wood were well understood and the difficulties of turning such a hard wood had been overcome by those who needed to know.
Item Code: 5460
£ 495
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