Wealth and Status - (Page 3 of 5)

Many of the works of art preserved in our museums are from a high level of society at a time when dining was an elegant affair, with objects created just as much for their appearance as for their function. For example, the Epergne's wild design would have provided an almost floral appearance when placed on the dining table, its function as a candlestick holder and fruit bowl being almost completely obscured by its decoration.

Nowadays it is normal to find a salt and pepper pot on the table at dinner time. This was not the case in the medieval, Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, when salt and spices were expensive luxuries. The Bell Salt was a functional object used to hold the expensive spices and salt. Its contents helped to make this object a symbol of status, as did the material used to make it and its decoration. Even its position on the table was of great significance. It highlights the 'rules' of dining within high society as a signifier of social division. In a wealthy household, the placing of the salt indicated the dividing line between the upper and lower ranks, so where you sat in relation to the salt showed how important (or not) you were. If you try the 'Pass the Salt' challenge later on in this theme you will find that a Duke or Duchess is more important, and would therefore sit closer to the salt, than a Viscount or Viscountess!