Saltcellar

The fine saltcellar is described as ”a round column of ivory like a fountain with little men and dogs, all faulty and inadequate” in the inventory of Ambras. Such cup-shaped topped containers were used as decorative saltcellars in European Renaissance courts. As commissioned works they were produced in Africa and are modelled in the style of European topped cups of the 15th and 16th centuries while clearly displaying elements of African iconography. The Sapi-Portuguese ivory objects are among the earliest works of African art that came to Europe.