A Costly Salt-Cellar.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11980, 31 January 1903, Page 4 (Supplement)

A Costly Salt-Cellar.

t Lot 62 at a recent London sale, was ont t of the finest articles of its kind ever offeree > to tbe public, and it brought a. record i price in its class. " Unrivalled, superb, l uniquely beautiful," were some of the epi- , thets applied to it, and £3OOO was its ; price. The object that created all the [ fenaation is only a salt-cellar, but it is : beyond question one of the most beau- ; tifnl and best preserved Elizabethan standi ing salt-cellars in all England. The scheme of ornamentation is said to be

"masterly, controlled, yet sumptuous." The salt-cellar, with its cover, is of rock crystal and silver gilt. It stands nearly Bin high, and weighs 9oz. It bears the Lodon hall-mark for the year 1577, and that of the maker, probably Thomas Bampton, of the Falcon, a hooded falcon in an escalloped shield. There are three patts; base, capital, cover. The central portion is of rock crystal, a hollow cylinder, within which is a group in silver gilt of Vlenus, upholding a laurel wreath, two sportive Cupids at her feet. At the corners are silver gilt capitals, connected by delicate bands' shaped to the- outlines of caryatid figures. On the rectangular base are two pieces of stamped classic mouldings, resting on coiner claws, whose small balls of rock crystal form the feet. The receptacle for the salt is " a convex, hemispherical cavity, embossed from a square-shaped plaque, the corners being engraved with scroll-work. The square-shaped cover has a circular dome top, repousse, and chased with masks, strapwork and groups of fruit, on a matted ground. Above, on a pilnster form, supporting a small ciystal ball, is a tiny statuette of a nude boy, holding bngpipes under the left arm, his" right foot resting on a tree stump." With a fine show of indifference, some buyer started the bidding at 100 guineas, but the bids soon raised the price to £3OOO. This is the highest sum ever paid at auction for a yalt-cellar, the previous best being £I3BO. obtained in 1901 for a famous standing salt dating from 1595, and similar to one preserved in Christ's Hospital.