Salt cellar with openwork base, ca. 1400–1525
Opaque red glass, blown, applied threads
(H x Ø)5,5 × 7,8 cm
Place foundAachen
About the workThere are no known comparable examples of this footed bowl. It is possible that the design was based on the metal art of the period: in the second half of the fifteenth century, silver cups on three or four feet were common, and the ornamental openwork is also inspired by these models. The sealing wax-red colour of the glass was a speciality mastered by various forest glassworks in regions such as the Spessart and the Black Forest. The colour is caused by the metallic copper that enriches the glass and diffuses the light. The bowl is believed to have come from a cesspit in the city of Aachen.
AccessionKarl Amendt collection, permanent loan since 1988
Inventory numberLP 2010-22
