Two salt-cellars with satyrs, Adam van Vianen (I), 1621
Throughout the ages, salt was treated with respect: it was expensive and was ascribed curative properties. Salt-cellars were thus often ornate works of art fashioned from costly materials. These salts have a basic triangular shape. Each corner consists of a satyr or faun, a mythological creature with a human body and the legs, ears and horns of a goat.