Lidded Saltcellar

The artwork shown here is a lidded saltcellar from the 15th to 16th century. It is an example of extraordinarily skilled workmanship and shows an important convergence of cultures. It is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York, New York. It is 11 and 3/4 inches tall or 29.8 cm. The material used to make it is ivory and it was made by the Sapi-Portuguese. The Sapi sculptors who made it were working on this piece of art in what is now Sierra Leone. In the second half of the 15th century Portuguese explorers and traders were very impressed with the talent of the ivory carvers along the coast of West Africa. Because of this they were inspired to start making works of their own for their patrons. They combined European and African forms to their artworks. Also during this period, salt and pepper were serious commodities and elaborate containers were considered appropriate for the storage of them in homes. Salt was pretty rare though and only wealthy people were able to have this commodity. To be able to display this precious commodity with such finely carved details was a symbol of wealth to the Potuguese. 

This specific saltcellar contains imagery relating to indigenous Sapi belief systems. The four snakes at the base of the saltcellar are associated with mystical wealth. The snakes appear to be confronting four growling dogs with bristling fur and their ears are drawn back. According to the regional traditions, dogs are considered to be spiritually astute animals and are able to see spirits and ghosts that are not visible to humans. The depiction of the dogs with their teeth showing and their ears put back might be a symbol or representation of that ability. An acorn is nestled inside of the very stylized petals of a rose crowns the top of the container. Four rosettes are also finely carved at the upper part of the lid. The four figures at the bottom are shown wearing local clothing. Two of the four figures are warriors holding swords and shields and the other two are women. 

Comments

  1. Jeremy VelascoNovember 5, 2020 at 1:06 PM

    Lily,

    First off, I am super impressed by the sheer detail in the ivory containers. The specific saltcellar that you highlighted has an incredible amount of details and I think the piece is super unique considering the symbolism of the different elements of the piece. You clearly explain what each part of the saltcellar represents and tied it back to the importance of the Sapi belief system. ONly one question, does the saltcellar pictured have a name? It seems a little too important to just be any old saltcellar. Nice Work!

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  2. Luna VelarNovember 6, 2020 at 7:19 PM

    Hi Lily!

    I really enjoyed the detail of your post. You went into detail of what the symbology on the saltcellar meant and why it was significant, and included how it was made. I also like how you mention it was a combination of European and African art style, which shows that this was likely a trading town with common visits of Europeans or at least their goods. Great post!

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