Salt Cellar

CultureAfrican

Datelate 15th-early 16th century

MediumIvory

DimensionsOverall: 8 × 4 1/8 inches (20.32 × 10.48 cm)
.1 (bottom): 5 3/4 × 4 1/8 inches (14.61 × 10.48 cm)
.2 (lid): 1 3/4 × 3 5/8 inches (4.45 × 9.21 cm)

Credit LineGift of Adele and Donald Hall

Object number2025.33.5.1,2

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThis saltcellar, excepting the lid, is carved from a single piece of ivory. A circular base supports an openwork tableau of four figures that alternate with thin vertical or interwoven spiral cylinders. Two figures are men dressed in European clothing; the other two are women wearng African clothing. The saltcellar proper rests on the figures' heads.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Africa and its Renaissance: Art in Ivory, Center for African Art, New York City, NY, November 16-April 9, 1988-1989; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, May 6-August 20, 1989.

Magnificent Gifts for the 75th, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 13-April 4, 2010.

Gallery Label

This lustrous, intricately carved salt cellar is among the earliest works produced by African artists for foreign patrons. This special group of luxury objects, commissioned by Portuguese from local workshops, displays an inventive combination of European and African design elements. The egg-shaped container is decorated with narrow beaded bands (a European embellishment), and supported by four standing human figures (an African innovation). These finely modeled figures of local women and European men display a distinctive feature of this region’s export ivories: the rendering of African and European features in an identical style based on ancient Bullom and Temne stone figures, a combination that may indicate regular social interaction.

Provenance

With Galerie Roudillon, Paris, France, by 1973 [1];

Acquired by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933-2003), Geneva, Switzerland, by 1983;

Sold at his sale, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection of African Art, Sotheby's, London, June 27, 1983, lot 23;

Private collection, Lisbon, Portugal, by 2008;

Purchased at sale, Important Art d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, Sotheby's, Paris, June 11, 2008, lot 120, by Adele (1932-2013) and Donald (1928-2024) Hall, Kansas City, MO, 2008-2024;

Their gift, through the Donald J. Hall Revocable Trust, to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025 [2].

NOTES:

[1] Pictured in an advertisement for Galerie Roudillon published in Arts d'Afrique Noire, no.6, in 1973.

[2] Prior to being formally accessioned into the collection, the object was a promised gift made by the Hall family in 2009 in honor of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's 75th anniversary.

Published References

Galerie Roudillon, "Art Negre, Archéologie Américaine," Arts d'Afrique Noire, (Summer, 1973): 2, (repro.).

Sotheby's, The Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Collection of African Art (London: Sotheby's, June 27, 1983) 30-32, lot 23, (repro.).

Ezio Bassani and William Fagg, Africa and the Renaissance: Art in Ivory (New York: The Center for African Art, 1988), 52 (repro.).

Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, The Tribal Arts of Africa (London: Thames & Hudson, 1998), back-cover, 26, figure A, (repro.).

Ezio Bassani, Ivoires d'Afriques dans les Anciennes Collection Françaises (Paris: Musée du Quay Branly, 2008), 55, #46, (repro.).

Sotheby's, "Arts d'Afrique, d'Oceanie et de Colombie Britannique," La Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot (April11, 2008): 24, (repro.).

Sotheby's, Important Art d'Afrique et d'Oceanie (Paris: Sotheby's, June 11, 2008), 134-139 and back cover, lot 120, (repro.).

David A. Binkley, A Private Passion: The Donald and Adele Hall Collection of African Art (Seattle: Marquand Books, 2015), 17, 152-153, (repro.).

Christine Valluet, Regards visionnaires: Arts d'Afrique, d'Amérique, d'Asie du Sud-Est et d'Océanie (Milan: 5 Continents, 2018), 143, (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.