Pillar salt

An Elizabethan silver-gilt standing salt. The cover and base have London hallmarks and date letter for 1562, with the maker's mark of a pelican displayed. The cover has been repaired with brass reinforcing strips and the urn-shaped finial is also an early 20th-century addition. There are clear scratch marks under the base for 5ozs 15 dwt.

During the 16th and 17th centuries protocol and fashion governed the dressing of the dining table. Salt had long been a highly prized commodity enveloped in tales of its life-giving properties, a symbol of immortality and incorruptibility. Although it was widely available, the methods of extraction and refining were laborious and costly. Packed into moulds, fine-grained salt was stored until it dried into solid 'lumps' to be broken down for use in the kitchen or at table. These processes, combined with the monopolies and taxes that controlled them, made salt an expensive necessity. Medieval custom demanded that such an important condiment should be presented in a suitably grand and expensive vessel. The Great Salt was the focal point of the table and a small quantity of salt was placed into the central depression, which was covered to give symbolic protection of its precious contents. Ownership of a salt of this quality was a tangible demonstration of the owner's taste and wealth, and contained visual messages for guests.