Cleveland Museum of Art

Pair of Double Salt Dishes (Paire de salières)

Sèvres Porcelain Factory

Date

1790

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration

Culture

France, Sèvres

Department

Decorative Art and Design

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This double-salt cellar was added to a 525 piece dinner and dessert service commissioned by French King Louis XVI and known as the guirlandes de barbeaux (garlands of cornflowers) service. Between 1783 and 1790 broken or damaged objects from this service were replaced on an annual basis. Objects in this service were made of both soft and hard-paste porcelain, the latter made possible by the discovery of the ingredient kaolin in France in 1768-69. This double-salt cellar would have held salts as well as a variety of spices such as pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.