Salt
Medium
Pressed glass
Dimensions
1 1/2 x 2 5/8 x 3 3/4 in. (3.8 x 6.7 x 9.5 cm)
Classification
Salt
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Charles W. Green, in memory of Dr. Charles W. Green, 1951
Accession Number
51.171.203
Art Historical Context
In the bustling glass factories of early 19th-century America, the Boston & Sandwich Glass pioneered pressed glass techniques that transformed everyday objects into affordable luxuries. This delicate "Salt" cellar, crafted between 1830 and 1840, exemplifies their mastery. Measuring just 1 1/2 x 2 5/8 x 3 3/4 inches, it's petite tableware essential—designed to hold salt for seasoning at the dinner table—adorned with the intricate geometric patterns typical of the period's molded designs. Pressed glass, invented around 1825, revolutionized American manufacturing by allowing molds to press molte...
About the Artist
Boston & Sandwich Glass Company · 1825–1888
The Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, a pioneering force in American glassmaking, was established in 1825 in Sandwich, Massachusetts, by visionary entrepreneur Deming Jarves, who had honed his expertise as an agent for the New England Glass Company in Cambridge. Jarves built the factory on the banks of the Cape Cod Canal, incorporating it formally the following year with Boston investors. Drawing o...