How to Collect Salt Cellars

If you've never seen salt cellars, once you discover them, you may fall in love with these little gems, and collecting them is so easy, you'll find it hard to stop! Some collectors call these little glass or porcelain containers salt dips or salts. You can find them in a variety of places, from antique shops to online collections.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• List of local antique shops.

1. Decide what type of salt cellars you'd like to collect. There are several different types:
   
   Glass: Some of the most common include pressed and cut glass, and comes in several collectible colors, too.
   Porcelain: These are dainty painted and decorated cellars that often matched dinnerware.
   Milk Glass: This opaque glass comes in a variety of colors and designs, both pressed and cut.
   Metal: Precious and semi-precious metals like silver, gold, and silver-colored. These are some of the most expensive varieties of salt cellars.

2. Salt cellars are small enough to be relatively inexpensive to begin collecting. You can find them in antique shops and even online auction sites for under $10, which is very reasonable for beginning antique and collectibles.

3. Salt cellars are also extremely decorative, and since your collection won't take up much space, you can display it on small shelves or a small curio cabinet on your wall.

4. Use your salt cellars as you begin collecting! Invest in some small, glass salt spoons, and fill your cellars with salt and place them on your dinner table when you entertain. Salt cellars were originally used to hold salt on dining tables in Victorian times, because salt was not iodized and refined as it is today, and it would not pour out of the box efficiently. Salt cellars are a beautiful way to add a small accent to your special dinner or everyday supper!

5. Once you begin collecting salt cellars, you'll begin to know where to look for them. You may even find some in thrift shops and collectibles shops, so keep on the lookout for these little treasures whenever you're out shopping for antiques!

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid buying salt cellars with chips, dings, or cracks, it makes them virtually worthless.

[DebiRaitz]

on 7/29/2008 Open salt (or salt cellar) collectors will find many other collectors and a wealth of information about the hobby at opensalts.info