A silver, glass, and gilded mustard pot with a protruding spoon. The lid is hinged to the angular handle. The decorations are raised.
Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 6 / 6 Next image

William Aitken

Mustard Pot with Spoon
Now On View

Maker

William Aitken (English (Birmingham), active ca. 1894-1921)

Culture

English

Title

Mustard Pot with Spoon

Year

1908

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

glass, gilding, silver

Geography

Place Made: Birmingham; Place Made: England

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Miss Elizabeth E. Holland

Object Number

37.413

Type

Exhibition History

Trading Earth
Ceramics, Commodities, and Commerce
Apr 09, 2022 – Jul 20, 2025

Label copy

Served from various ceramic and metal containers, salt is one of the five basic tastes, and essential for normal function of the human body—although too much salt can also cause health issues. Underscoring salt’s role in the history of world commerce, the word salary comes from the Latin sal, meaning salt, as Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt.

Related Objects

More objects +

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

William Aitken (English (Birmingham), active ca. 1894-1921)
Mustard Pot with Spoon, 1908
Silver with gilding and glass
Gift of Miss Elizabeth E. Holland 37.413

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.