Cellini Salt Cellar
A table piece in gold and enamel in which Sea and Earth sit face to face – for salt and pepper.
Cellini made the salt cellar for Francis I in Paris. It was stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 2003 and found buried in a forest in 2006. It is back in the museum.
Materials: Gold, enamel, ebony, ivory
Manufacture: The figures were raised from sheet gold and chased; enamel partly fired on; the base of ebony.
Neptune beside a ship for the salt and Earth beside a temple for the pepper.
The legs leaning towards each other so that the figures mirror one another.