- Museum number
- Series: Sapi-Portuguese
Salt-cellar (a) and lid (b); made of elephant ivory. In form of spherical container and lid surmounted by figures of Madonna and Child. Below on lid are depicted three naked male youths, possibly representing the Old Testament figures of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
Base formed from hollow flaring cylinder decorated in low relief in three horizontal registers. Surmounted by pillow-type element, decorated with spiral rows of beading, from which hang four serpents. Bottom register depicts another biblical scene of Daniel in lions' den. Also includes the arms of the House of Aviz and the Cross of Beja.
- Production date
- 1490-1520 (circa)
Height: 31 centimetres
Width: 13.80 centimetres
Depth: 13.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
Carved ivory salt cellars, forks and spoons are among the first recorded artefacts traded from the west coast of Africa to Europe in the 15th century. These luxury goods, commissioned by Portuguese traders and explorers for wealthy European patrons, were made by Sapi carvers in Sierra Leone.
The salt cellars are rich in figurative imagery drawing their inspiration from biblical and religious scenes as well as heraldic motifs and fantastic creatures, probably copied from European prints or drawings circulating in the region at this period.
Christian motifs dominate this salt cellar and in this context the uppermost figures probably represent the Madonna and Child.
This salt-cellar was initially received by the Museum in 1956 on loan from the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This was in exchange for a plaster cast (Af1920,0708.1) of the original salt-cellar that had been presented to the Museum in 1920 by Mr Parker Brewis, of the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
2003 18 Oct-14 Dec, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 17 Jan-28 Mar, Kobe City Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 10 Apr-13 Jun, Fukuoka Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 26 Jun-29 Aug, Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2007 23 Jun-16 Sep, USA, Washington DC, Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M Sackler Gallery, Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries
2007 27 Oct-2008 3 Feb, Belgium, Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries
2009 Dec-Present, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Medieval and Renaissance Galleries LT loan
- Acquisition date
- Acquisition notes
- A vellum label still attached to the saltcellar records an early examination by three German (?) savants in 1520. If this date is correct, it would be the earliest record of the presence in Europe of an identifiable Sapi-Portuguese ivory sculpture
A paper that accompanied the saltcellar in the early 19th century said that it had been examined by three named members of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1755.
[Bill Hart, personal communication, June 2010].
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number