Salt Cellar
Unknown American or English, American or English
1780-1810
Blue lead glass
Overall: 3 3/16 × 2 3/8 in. (8.1 × 6 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Elizabeth E. Craig, Class of 1944W
G.2002.30.9
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Tools and Equipment: Food Service
Research Area
Decorative Arts
Not on view
Label
This mold-blown salt dish, formed in a mold with twenty-six ribs, boasts the added appeal of color. Colored glass was achieved through the addition of mineral oxides and metallic compounds such as cobalt, which yielded the blue glass seen here. The scarcity of salt at various points in American history made it a valued commodity. After moisture-absorbing agents were added to salt beginning early in the 20th century, it could be sold ground and served in saltshakers rather than open dishes.
From the 2019 exhibition American Art, Colonial to Modern, curated by Barbara J. MacAdam, Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art
Exhibition History
American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 9-December 9, 2007.
American Art, Colonial to Modern, Israel Sack Gallery and Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-September 12, 2021.
Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 2, 2009-present.
Publication History
Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Muesum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007, p. 205, no. 180.
Provenance
Hostetler collection, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Auction, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; sold to Mr. Ehret, donor's father; to Elizabeth E. and J. William Craig, Jr., Dayton, Ohio, about 1955; given to present collection, 2002.
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