51/759

Salt boxes, for storing salt, were once common in cottage and farmhouse kitchens and were usually hung near the fire to keep salt dry. This salt box is made of oak, with ornamental beading around the front, and the lid is fastened with brass hinges. There is an inverted heart-shaped hole in the back by which the box can be hung. Lavinia Smith acquired it from Eleanor Coates of Southerwood, possibly in East Hendred.

1 salt box: wood; good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Miss Smith obtained this salt box from Mrs. Coates of Southerwood (East Hendred?). // It is made of oak and the lid is fastened on with brass hinges. There is a hole shaped like an inverted heart in the back, by which it could be hung up near the fire. There is ornamental beading round the front of the box, and the parts are nailed together. The bottom of the box measures 11 inches by 5.6 inches and the back is 11.6 inches in height. // See also 51/663L.', MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 51/663 – 'Salt was commonly kept in a box near the fire or on the overmantel of a cottage or farmhouse kitchen to keep it dry. They vary in type from the ornamental box with drawers to the strictly utilitarian, of which this box is a good example. It is made of oak and has leather hinges. These were used because iron hinges would rust through contact with the salt which attracts damp. The marks of damp salt are plainly visible on the bottom of the box., Lavinia Smith Catalogue (D60/28) - 'A list of the contents of the East Hendred museum. July 5 1940 // Small articles on the Wood Table // 105-106. Two salt boxes. The importance of the saltbox and trencher is seen fromm [sic] this quotation in Thomas Love Peacock's novel Melincourt where a young labourer, fearing that some one means to take away his sweetheart says, ''He may take away chair and table, saltbox and trencher, bed and bedding, pig and pigstye but neither he nor all his paper men together shall take away his own Zukey from Robin Ruddyface.'' ' (The entry appears to be crossed out in pencil in Smith's catalogue), Heritage of the Hendreds Exhibition 1969 - 'Catalogue of Exhibits // Number 57 // Salt Box // Lent by Museum of English Rural Life' (The catalogue description could also refer to 51/663), MERL ‘Conservation Record’ form – ‘Class: Domestic - furnishing // Name: salt box // Acc. No.: 51/759 // Conservator: G. E. // Date: 3/1/86 // part/whole: treatment: method: // part/whole: Hinges. repair: New pin put in right hand hinge - screws adjusted. New brass screw put in left hand hinge to replace one of wrong size used as a replacement some time in the past. method: // part/whole: finish: Light staining of wood necessary in area of hinges after repairs. Polished with microcrystalline wax. Note: Lid does not shut tight down and this is the cause of the hinges breaking. As the old screws will not come out no further adjustments and repairs were undertaken. Sellotape marks on lid would not come off with petrolium solvent. method: // [tick box, unticked] tick when noted on catalogue sheet’

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)