Double salt or pepper box

Double salt or pepper box

Pierre-Aymé Joubert

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The two shell-like covers of this box conceal shallow compartments for salt or pepper. Rococo-style salts like this one were made in matching sets that were arranged around the dining table in front of each guest or, alternatively, positioned between two guests. The fluted covers and scrolling feet were intended to reflect the flickering candlelight.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Double salt or pepper boxDouble salt or pepper boxDouble salt or pepper boxDouble salt or pepper boxDouble salt or pepper box

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.