Rare Salt Box Stool

France, 18th Century

$995

Antique Rare One-Of-A-Kind

For four hundred years salt was taxed so heavily in France that a household guarded it like money, and a box like this, kept dry by the fire, is where it lived. Tapered and low, it stands on four splayed legs with a sliding lid on top, a box you could keep the salt in and perch on both at once. The tax, the gabelle, ran from the 1300s until the Revolution swept it away in 1790, and salt was dear enough that minding it often fell to the grandmother, the box by her chair opened a pinch at a time. Sylvie keeps it by the fire as a low seat or a side table, the lid lifting on whatever a room wants tucked out of sight.

Minor variations from the images may occur unless otherwise noted. All sales are final.

Age:: 18th Century
Country of Origin:: France
Material:: Wood
Dimensions:: 19.5" H x 15.25" W x 15.25" D

Notes from Sylvie:

Dear collector, as with many antiques, this piece may show signs of its age, including subtle repairs, a bit of movement, cracks, scratches, small holes, and surface variation from years of use.

All items are final sale.