Soviet | Open Salt Cellar with Glass Liner | Floral Relief | 20th Century

Soviet | Open Salt Cellar with Glass Liner | Floral Relief | 20th Century

Under Soviet price control, even the salt cellar carried its price in the metal.

Made in the Soviet Union, this small open salt belongs to the decorative metal tableware produced in state factories for everyday domestic use. Retail prices were fixed by the state, and many goods had their price struck into them at the factory. Inside the frame, beside the factory mark ЮММЕТ, this piece is stamped at 1 rouble 50 kopecks.

The cellar is an open, rounded white-metal frame with no base of its own; the clear glass liner sits inside and forms the bowl. A band of flowers, buds and leafy scrolls in relief runs round the body on a finely matted ground, below a reeded rim. Three curved supports rise from the scroll feet towards the rim, framing the removable glass liner. The underside of the frame is gadrooned. Inside, it is stamped "9ЮММЕТ" and "Ц 1р 50к".

The salt cellar is in excellent condition, with no visible loss to the finish. The glass liner has no chips or cracks.

Key Details

• Origin: USSR
• Maker: unidentified (factory mark "9ЮММЕТ")
• Marks: "9ЮММЕТ"; state price stamp "Ц 1р 50к" (1 rouble 50 kopecks)
• Material: white metal; clear glass liner
• Form: open salt cellar on three scroll feet, with removable glass liner
• Date: Soviet period, 20th century; not dated
• Dimensions: height 3.5 cm; diameter 5.5 cm
• Weight: 63 g (with glass liner)
• Condition: excellent
• Buyer profile: collectors of Soviet and Russian tableware, and of open salts

Collector Appeal

The price stamp adds an unusual documentary detail to a small table object, tying it to the regulated retail system of Soviet domestic life. With its decorative frame, glass liner and clear Cyrillic marks, it is a characteristic piece of 20th-century Soviet tableware.

Its price was set in roubles and kopecks; the little salt cellar has outlasted the currency that named it.