A Tudor salt dish, made between 1530-1550. The item itself is made using salt-glaze pottery, where salt was thrown into the kiln during clay firing to create a glossy, orange-peel-like texture. Formed into the shape of a woman in Tudor clothing, it was glazed with polychrome brown with some yellow to highlight the decoration. Measuring 16.9cm high, salt would have been held in the little dish coming out from the dress of the lady. Salt was a very valuable commodity in the Tudor period, and ownership of it was often a status symbol. Henry VIII had multiple salt holders in his possession upon his death, and his daughter Elizabeth I granted a patent for a new type of iron pan in the 1560s intended to increase salt production in Tyneside. Much salt at this time was imported to London from France, but during the 16th century there was a boom in salt production in Scotland. This salt dish was found in Cardiff's High Street in 1892 when workmen were digging the foundations for a Lloyd's Bank. It was broken and the base has since been heavily restored with plaster of paris. It is held today at St Fagans Gweithdy gallery, Cardiff.
Oh, I love her! So I drew her.
