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Pair of Saltcellars
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
During the Italian Renaissance of the 1400s and 1500s, nobles and merchants eager to express their wealth and sophistication ordered ceramics for dining, display, and storage. Known as maiolica, because it resembled the brightly colored ceramics from the Mediterranean island of Majorca, these ceramic vessels were covered with a tin glaze that provided an opaque white surface on which colorful decoration could be painted.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit linePair of Saltcellars, c. 1570–90. Circle of the Patanazzi Family (Italian). Tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica); overall: 20.3 x 21 x 12.8 cm (8 x 8 1/4 x 5 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip R. Mather, 1945.126
