Are glass salts usually sold in pairs?

Pairs are the commonest offering. The word "pair" appears in 25 of 71 titles in the Sellingantiques archive, ahead of singles, trios and larger sets. Sets of four, six and ten also appear, and cruets are counted by their bottles instead: five-piece, six-bottle, seven-bottle and an eight-piece oval stand.

What colours do coloured salts come in?

Cranberry dominates, named in around a fifth of titles. It runs from plain examples through gilded and enamelled and cranberry-flashed work. Everything else is thin on the ground. Amethyst, amber, green, vaseline or uranium, ruby, Bohemian overlay and green opaline each appear only once or twice.

Why do some listings mention silver hallmarks?

Silver or silver plate is paired with the glass in 22 of the 71 titles, whether that's a pierced mount holding a glass liner, a plated cruet frame, or a matching salt spoon. The silver element is what carries the marks. Named assay years include London 1755/6 on a George II pair, Exeter 1863, Chester 1896 and Birmingham 1900.

How old are most antique glass salts?

The dealers' dated fields span 1800 to 1920. Victorian and Georgian labels dominate the titles, with 19th Century, Edwardian and 18th Century behind them. The earliest specific claim is a Georgian bonnet glass given as English c1760. The latest is a five-piece Art Deco cruet cut in heavy lead crystal, filed to 1920 and the only Art Deco entry in the set.

Does a salt bottle mean the same as a salt dish?

No. Alongside the open table dishes sits a small run of stoppered bottles: double-ended scent bottles, a silver-topped cased scent bottle, a cased silver-mounted salts bottle. So "salt" in a title can point to a smelling-salts bottle rather than a vessel for table salt. The rest of the description makes clear which.

Which forms turn up least often?

Several appear exactly once: a font salt, a reverse-painted trencher pair, a Bohemian overlay salt tub, a double-ogee bonnet glass with blue rim, and an orange-rimmed moulded salt. Irish cut glass is claimed twice, both times as Georgian. Boat, pedestal and standing forms are the more regular shapes.

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Antique Glass Salts

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Small open glass dishes for serving salt at table, sold singly, in pairs and in sets, along with the cruet frames and condiment stands built to hold them.